Mounting and charging a phone

First off: Mounting. I looked at a number of vehicle specific mounting products and I didn't like any of them. They were all designed for regular Rav4s. They either mounted on the vents (which I don't want to block since heating/cooling is so "expensive") or they mounted to the dash in ways that block the expanded controls of the EV console. I ended up making an angled wooded adapter that slips into the rectangular slot next to the parking break. The mount for my specific phone then attaches to that. It is a good setup because it is right next to the USB and the armrest steadies my hand. I'll attach some photos later today. The one downside is that it gets in the way (a bit) of the Park button. Not the worst thing, but a downside nonetheless.

For charging, I was originally using the 12V plug inside the armrest, but then I switched to the USB. I had assumed the USB was for audio only and probably provided a weak charge. But I was wrong. It puts out a great charge and charges my phone as fast (if not faster) than any 12V-to-USB adapter.

I'm curious where others have mounted their phones and how they do/don't like it.

I haven't mounted mine yet but I think I discovered that the USB is always on, so that your phone can charge when the car is off. For that reason I might mount it low near the USB port also. I can't get my contacts to sync and haven't figured out how to manually add my favorites to the directory on the car so I could use the big screen to dial from. Until then I will keep my phone on a long tether so I don't have to take my eyes off the road when dialing.

Here are my photos...

Here's the wood block I made. (I'll replace that brown felt with black felt for a better look.)


Here is block installed. The adapter plate allows me to easily detach the phone holder and move it to the other car.


With the phone holder for my GS3. (I have a holder for my other phone as well, with the same mating adapter plate.)


And with the phone...

Ampster said:

I haven't mounted mine yet but I think I discovered that the USB is always on, so that your phone can charge when the car is off. For that reason I might mount it low near the USB port also. I can't get my contacts to sync and haven't figured out how to manually add my favorites to the directory on the car so I could use the big screen to dial from. Until then I will keep my phone on a long tether so I don't have to take my eyes off the road when dialing.

Click to expand...

What type of phone do you have? My two Android phones (Samsung GS3 and Moto Photon) both sync the phonebook nicely through the bluetooth. I am then able to call anyone via the car's voice command system with a single press on the steering wheel.

(I would like to be able to put the voice control system into a less verbose mode. Why does she have to explain it all every time? Doesn't she know that I have learned it by now? )

SeaMonster said:

What type of phone do you have? My two Android phones (Samsung GS3 and Moto Photon) both sync the phonebook nicely through the bluetooth. )

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I have a Samsung Galaxy S III (GS3) and a MyTouch (HTC) The MyTouch syncs but the Samsung doesn't. The screen on the vehicle says. "Transfer failed"

Hmmm... That's strange. My GS3 works perfectly. What version of the OS do you run? I have stock JellyBean 4.1.1. Are you on a carrier that still is on ICS? Have you tried unpairing it (on both sides) and then re-pairing? After you pair and connect, you get an alert asking you to approve the phonebook transfer. You should only get that once. If you missed it, you might be paired but not allowing phonebook transfers. Just a thought...

I've used products from ProClip USA for a couple of years and have really liked them. They are sending me a same to try in the EV, of which I will post photos once it arrives.

More to come as I get the info.

-Chris

I have ProClip mounts in my other cars. They are great. When I looked (two months ago) they didn't have a mount specifically for the EV, and the generic Rav4 mounts didn't work for me as described above. I did contact them and they said they might do an Rav4 EV mount in the future. Please let us know what you get. I hope it's nice.

If you notice, that is a ProClip adapter plate mounted to the wood block. The phone holder is made by Samsung, and I use a ProClip swivel with a ProClip adapter on one end and a Richter (four prong mount found in many phone holders) adapter on the other.

SeaMonster said:

Hmmm... That's strange. My GS3 works perfectly. What version of the OS do you run? I have stock JellyBean 4.1.1. Are you on a carrier that still is on ICS? Have you tried unpairing it (on both sides) and then re-pairing? After you pair and connect, you get an alert asking you to approve the phonebook transfer. You should only get that once. If you missed it, you might be paired but not allowing phonebook transfers. Just a thought...

Click to expand...

I paired again and it worked. Only problem is that it only downloaded 1000 names and I had more in my contacts list. How it picked the 1000 names, I don't know, but some of the missing ones are ones I wanted to put in my speed dial. So I have reduced that to 975 and will try again tomorrow. Thanks for the tips, I am getting close.

Joyride said:

I've used products from ProClip USA for a couple of years and have really liked them. They are sending me a same to try in the EV, of which I will post photos once it arrives.

Click to expand...

The ProClip mount finally arrived today, and I was able to quickly mount it in my car exactly as described in the instructions. I snapped some quick shots tonight, which I plan to re-shoot in the daylight with a better camera than my iPhone in the next couple of days. This is item No 853831 from http://www.proclipusa.com

The little holes you see on the faceplate are for the device adapter that you buy separately. The ProClip system is comprised of two parts, one that is vehicle specific, and the other which is device specific. The device specific holders have a common mounting pattern that match up with the part hooked to the device. I've used their product in my Prius as well, and no tools or drilling, or other changes are required to the car. It's all gravity and friction based.

(full disclosure: ProClipUSA sent me a free vehicle specific mount to see if it would work in the Rav4EV, for which I committed to providing them photos of the mount installed in my car)

Here are the photos: