Retractable Car Charger

A car charger that stops the back-seat cable argument. Two USB ports plus a built-in retractable cable means three devices can draw power from one cigarette lighter socket, so the driver's phone, a passenger's tablet and a dash camera are not competing for the same port.

Power Delivery fast charging runs up to 88W, enough to refill a phone during a short drive rather than barely holding it steady while navigation runs.

The retractable cable extends to 800mm and pulls out only as far as you need. That is the difference between a driver reaching the phone mount and a rear passenger reaching the back seat, without a permanently dangling loop of cable across the console.

The head adjusts its orientation, which matters because cigarette lighter sockets are mounted at wildly different angles from car to car. Being able to turn the unit means the display stays readable and the cable exits in a sensible direction.

A digital display shows live battery voltage. That is a genuinely useful thing to have on a dashboard: a battery reading that drifts low over several days is an early warning that a battery is failing, long before the car refuses to start on a cold morning.

The cigarette lighter fitting is standard, so it works across most vehicles.

How to use

1. Push the charger into the cigarette lighter socket and rotate it so the display faces you.
2. Pull out only as much of the retractable cable as you need, up to 800mm.
3. Connect additional devices to the two USB ports using their own cables.
4. Check the voltage reading with the engine off. A healthy resting battery normally reads around 12.4 to 12.7 volts, and a consistently lower figure over several days is worth investigating.
5. For the fastest charge, use a cable rated for fast charging on the USB ports. A basic cable will cap the speed regardless of the charger.

Care: let the retractable cable draw in steadily rather than releasing it under tension, and unplug the unit if the car is left standing for long periods.