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Whether you're making an all-day road trip or just your normal half-hour commute, in the car is the perfect place to top up during your drive. After all, your phone should be stationary in a car mount for Android Auto or stowed away so you're not tempted to use it while driving. Car chargers come in many styles and shapes, but with the advent of USB-C Power Delivery charging, we have a widely used standard that can be used for charging a phone or even laptops off the same port. Here are the best chargers to replenish your battery on the road.
Futureproof charging
Anker 49.5W PowerDrive Speed+ 2 Car Adapter
Staff pick
This charger features a 30W USB-C Power Delivery port that can charge your Chromebook decently or charge most phones at top speed, and a USB-A port with Anker's PowerIQ to charge everything else. It's safe to say this car charger will likely last longer than your current car.
Reliable wireless charging
iOttie Easy One-Touch 4 QI Wireless Charging Mount
If you have a phone with Qi wireless charging, having a Qi charger in your car is awesome since you don't have to hassle with wires every time you get in or out. iOttie's Qi charging mount is the most popular and reliable model around.
MOAR POWER
Maxboost 63W Universal Car Charger
This charger has a large footprint and even larger capacity. The USB-C port here can charge at 45W — top speed for most Chromebooks and a good rate for Macbooks, too — and the USB-A port is Qualcomm QC 3.0. Charge it all and charge it all quickly.
Set and forget
AUKEY CC-Y12 18W PD Car Charger
Plugin, shut the cover, and forget this charger is there until you need its 18W USB-C port to recharge your phone in a hurry. This style is harder to extract, but that's because it's made to sit basically flush inside your car's charger port.
Great for Samsung users
RAVPower Dual Quick Charge 3.0 USB Port Car Charger
If your family uses Samsung phones, Qualcomm Quick Charge is the fast charging method you'll be relying on more than USB-C Power Delivery, and this affordable charger has not one but two QC 3.0 ports for you and your partner/friend/child/rideshare passenger to use.
Great speed, better price
Aukey 27W USB-C PD Car Charger
The USB-C port charges at up to 27W, and the USB-A port charges at a respectable 5V/2.4A, making this charger powerful but still mostly compact. It's not as small as AUKEY's CC-Y12, but that means it's easier to pull out if you frequently swap vehicles.
Power Delivery is awesome
USB-C Power Delivery is five kinds of awesome, with the best being that it can charge a wider variety of devices at a wider range of speeds. If you want to charge a laptop in your car — hey, it happens more often than you'd think — then you can go overboard with the Maxboost 63W Universal Car Charger and its 45W PD output, but if you'd rather stick with a more well-known brand, Anker's got you covered with the PowerDrive Speed+ 2 with its 30W PD output. Make sure you grab a good USB-C cable to use them with!
If your phone has Qi charging, you should really consider grabbing a Qi car charger. Not having to plug and unplug every single time you get in the car is nice, especially during an afternoon of errands. There are other Qi charging mounts out there, but iOttie's is available in three modes: a dash mount, a vent mount and a CD slot mount, so you can grab the type that's best for you. If you live in a warm locale, I definitely suggest the vent model so that your AC can help keep things cool in the summer since Qi charging tends to gather a little heat.
by Ara Wagoner