Wireless phone charger pad started acting finicky

[Murtaya]

Couldn't find much on the forums here about this, so maybe it's just my car...but in the last couple weeks, after I place my phone on the left front charging pad of the car, it will continually stop/start charging (i.e., the phone screen wakes up to say it's starting to charge, and then it happens again several seconds later).

Some notes on the behavior:

• The behavior happens regardless of where I put the phone on the pad, or if the car is moving or not.
• It seems to happen on and off between different car drives (i.e., it happens constantly on some drives but never on others).
• This only started a few weeks ago; for the year+ prior, it was working fine.
• The behavior does not happen when the phone's on the right front pad...only the left. I thought it could be the phone case I got a month or two back, or maybe updating my phone to iOS 17, or maybe even the Christmas update...but with this, I think there might either a charger failure or something loose?

Car Details:

• 2022 Model S Plaid
• Christmas update

Phone Details:

• iPhone 11
• OS 17.2

I was curious if anybody else might have encountered this? If so, did you eventually find the issue cause, and/or fix it? Thought I'd check this knowledge base before hitting up the service center-

 

[Leeclanual]

Couldn't find much on the forums here about this, so maybe it's just my car...but in the last couple weeks, after I place my phone on the left front charging pad of the car, it will continually stop/start charging (i.e., the phone screen wakes up to say it's starting to charge, and then it happens again several seconds later).

Some notes on the behavior:

• The behavior happens regardless of where I put the phone on the pad, or if the car is moving or not.
• It seems to happen on and off between different car drives (i.e., it happens constantly on some drives but never on others).
• This only started a few weeks ago; for the year+ prior, it was working fine.
• The behavior does not happen when the phone's on the right front pad...only the left. I thought it could be the phone case I got a month or two back, or maybe updating my phone to iOS 17, or maybe even the Christmas update...but with this, I think there might either a charger failure or something loose?

Car Details:

• 2022 Model S Plaid
• Christmas update

Phone Details:

• iPhone 11
• OS 17.2

I was curious if anybody else might have encountered this? If so, did you eventually find the issue cause, and/or fix it? Thought I'd check this knowledge base before hitting up the service center-

Same problem… can’t have a phone cover on it anymore to charge.

 

[Murtaya]

Was it a new development for you?

You bring up a good point I didn't mention: taking the cover off seems to address the issue. I guess I could go around without using a phone cover, but it would be nice to get the car working properly if possible (especially since the right pad doesn't care about the phone cover).

 

[DerbyDave]

I'd just use the right pad. Likely a design limitation with the car.

 

[Leeclanual]

Same problem… can’t have a phone cover on it anymore to charge.

Yes, worked fine up until a month/two ago… I’ve tried iPhone XR, 14 and 15 on both pads… no luck with any of them without slim covers removed. I have a 2022 S

 

[Leeclanual]

I'd just use the right pad. Likely a design limitation with the car.

Aren’t both pads the same?

 

[Leeclanual]

Yes, worked fine up until a month ago… I’ve tried iPhone XR, 14 and 15 on both pads… no luck with any of them without slim covers removed. I have a 2022 S

 

[DerbyDave]

Aren’t both pads the same?

The charging coil in your phone may be more to the left of center, or the car coil may be a bit off. Try any other phone but the one that doesn't work for confirmation. Maybe try putting it in upside down? Also, if it works without the cover, you know the obvious answer for that. This is a Tesla. If an obvious workaround is to use the other pad, do it. You will wait possibly for years for the thing to work properly with some software mod needed, like I have waited for over 3 years for SiriusXM to sort of work pretty good. Maybe you'll get lucky, but it sure seems an easy solution to use the other pad.

 

[Leeclanual]

I opted last week to buy a MagSafe charger from Apple… pull it out and use it when necessary in the same cradle flat…