In-car wireless chargers are notoriously finicky. Your phone can slide off the slippery charging pad at a sudden stop, or overheat and stop charging; the case can also prevent your phone from connecting. Often, it’s a pain in the neck, not to mention an added distraction while you’re behind the wheel. Different manufacturers have tried various solutions, like Ram’s grippy upright charger, which features an anti-slip mat and an LED indicator that makes it clear when the phone is charging. However, online Ram forums and Reddit show that users still find their phones overheat, fail to charge, or require removing protective cases to work. No car manufacturer has really solved this most modern problem—yet.
Automaker Nissan is staking its claim on wireless charging with its 2026 Pathfinder and Murano vehicles, both of which feature newly designed, built-in wireless chargers that keep your gadgets cool and in place while you’re on the move. Plus, Nissan says it’s the first automaker to offer Qi2 wireless charging in the US since the Wireless Power Consortium released the latest version of the Qi2 standard in July 2025. This updated standard supports a consistent 15W charging rate, up from the spotty 5-15W maximum rate set way back in October 2015, when the Qi Extended Power Profile was first introduced. That means one of these Nissans can and will charge your phone at the same rate as plugging it into a wall in your office.
Nissan’s Qi2 wireless charging solution includes a magnet and a fan, elements that help keep the phone in place and keep it cool. For users, that means less charging angst and more certainty that phones will be charged as expected. For as much as America lives and dies by their smartphones, that’s a critical element.
Thermal management and more wattage
Qi, as defined by tech leviathan Lenovo, is a universal wireless charging standard that uses electromagnetic induction to transfer power from a Qi-enabled charging pad to a device. The key to seamless power transfer is a coil inside both the charging pad and the device; the pad generates an electromagnetic field, which the coil in the smartphone converts to energy that charges the battery.
Those coils must remain aligned for optimal charging. Smartphones aren’t one-size-fits-all, and there are different sizes and shapes that don’t all fit neatly on the charging pad. Nissan has addressed the issue by integrating a raised magnetized circle above the pad that lines up the coils and gets the electrons moving.
“If you misplace your phone or it shifts while driving, you’re not going to enjoy a full speed of charge because that off position means you’re losing a lot of charging efficiency to heat,” says Nissan engineer Matt Zimmerman. “By positioning the phone correctly, you’re going to be able to enjoy the maximum efficiency of the charger more at the time.” Plus, if you’re the kind of driver who likes to take corners like a racecar driver, your phone is likely to become a projectile unless it’s securely attached.
Zimmerman helped build the new charger from the Nissan Technical Center North America in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Wattage and thermal management are key for this technology, he says, for maximum efficiency. It’s critical the wattage from the charging pad exceeds the power usage by the device; otherwise, users will find the phone just gets hot and stops charging.
“Keep in mind that if you’re running Spotify, Apple Maps, Waze, or something like that, you can be using almost five watts just to keep your phone operating those tasks, even with the screen off,” Zimmerman says. “With previous generation chargers that have a limitation of five watts, you’re barely keeping pace.”
Thermal management has been a common challenge in earlier generations of wireless charging systems. The addition of a fan in Nissan’s design reduces the amount of generated heat for both the pad and the phone, in turn reducing the risk of overheating. Like anything else (and most people), smartphones don’t work well when overheated. Further, they charge faster when cooler, so cooling is not just preventative but efficient.
Stick it and go
Using a magnet is a simple concept, but it works. Some devices—like later model iPhones, for example—have camera lenses that protrude from the body of the device. Placing a phone with these types of protrusions on a charging pad means it’s not lying flat, and thus is not connected as securely or as evenly.
When you place a phone on a charging pad, the phone and pad are in constant negotiation with each other, Zimmerman explains.
“When a phone overheats, it’s talking to our charging pad and our car and communicating that it needs to negotiate a lower charge amount,” he says. “So, keeping the phones and the charging devices properly aligned helps keep them cool. This is all really important to maximize charging speed.”
Nissan also includes an LED light for charging indication; a solid orange light means charging is in progress, and a green light shows the phone is fully charged. A flashing orange light indicates a foreign object is detected, like keys or a wallet that might be getting in the way of your digital lifeblood.
The new wireless charger is a standard feature on the 2026 Murano, already available at dealerships, and on some 2026 Pathfinder models, expected to start showing up on dealer lots early this year.
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