2023 CX-5 Wireless Qi Charging Pad cooking the phone instead of charging

[bob1977]

Has anyone experienced very poor performance and overheating issue with Qi Charging Pad on CX-5?

I’ve got new CX-5 2023 MHEV since July and I noticed that my phone gets very hot when I put it on the charging pad and the charging performance is exceptionally poor despite the LED is green which indicates fast charging.

When my phone is connected to car infotainment through wireless CarPlay, the phone gets very hot and usually in less than an hour charging is interrupted, and the LED is flashing red then. During this time in the best case the battery charge remains at the same level or is slowly depleting.

Last weekend I had a long drive and decided to give a try pairing my phone through regular Bluetooth connection instead of CarPlay. The situation wasn’t much different. My phone was getting hot and from time to time charging had to be interrupted so the LED was changing its colour from solid green or amber to flashing red and back.
Surprisingly, I have noticed that even in this case the real charging performance was very poor – it gained not more than 3% - 5% within an hour of charging in fast mode.

I have been experiencing this problem with iPhone 8 Plus and now with iPhone 15.

I wonder whether it is something wrong with the charging pad in my car or it is a common issue and we need to push Mazda to sort it out.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

MHEV? What's this?

Where exactly are you plugging the wireless pad into? There should be two USB connectors in your dash but only one of them will source enough power to charge the phone properly.

How does your phone act when you use a Qi pad in someplace other than the car? I've not used a wireless pad with my new iPhone 15 but my old 13 got plenty hot when using a pad at home. Not so with a cable.

When my phone is connected to car infotainment through wireless CarPlay, the phone gets very hot and usually in less than an hour charging is interrupted, and the LED is flashing red then. During this time in the best case the battery charge remains at the same level or is slowly depleting.

Um, what? Either you're connected wirelessly or wired, which is it? I'm guessing that you mean the phone is connected with a wire. Which USB port?

I wonder whether it is something wrong with the charging pad in my car or it is a common issue and we need to push Mazda to sort it out.

The car supplies power to your charging pad, the pad charges the phone, the process makes the phone hot. What could be at fault on the car's end? It supplies either 12vdc or 5vdc, depending on where it's plugged into, hard to screw that up.

 

[bob1977]

Hi @Conrad 16.5

I think you don't understand what I'm talking about. I don't connect any pad to any USB port.

The car is originally equipped by the manufacturer with Wireless Qi charging pad on the middle console (underneath the A/C control panel).

I've got three Qi chargers at home and none of them generates any noticeable heat while charging at 7.5W which is the maximum power that iPhone can get from Qi.

MHEV is a marketing hype for Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle which in fact is neither hybrid nor electric.

 

[wlong01]

Hi @Conrad 16.5

I think you don't understand what I'm talking about. I don't connect any pad to any USB port.

The car is originally equipped by the manufacturer with Wireless Qi charging pad on the middle console (underneath the A/C control panel).

I've got three Qi chargers at home and none of them generates any noticeable heat while charging at 7.5W which is the maximum power that iPhone can get from Qi.

MHEV is a marketing hype for Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle which in fact is neither hybrid nor electric.

What country are you in?

 

[bob1977]

What country are you in?

England.

 

[cz5gt]

The wireless charging pad is not good on mine either. C"est la vie.

 

[gobroncos]

From what I’ve read, it’s not specific to Mazda:
See this 9to5Mac article

 

[mrplt]

I have the same issue on my 2022 CX-5. I couldn't find a solution aside from not using the wireless charger unless I absolutely have to.

 

[bob1977]

This is truly ridiculous because wireless charging is mature technology and there is plenty of Chinese cheap stuff on the market that work.

Can’t understand why some car manufacturer’s cannot fix this issue.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Hi @Conrad 16.5

I think you don't understand what I'm talking about. I don't connect any pad to any USB port.

The car is originally equipped by the manufacturer with Wireless Qi charging pad on the middle console (underneath the A/C control panel).

I've got three Qi chargers at home and none of them generates any noticeable heat while charging at 7.5W which is the maximum power that iPhone can get from Qi.

MHEV is a marketing hype for Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle which in fact is neither hybrid nor electric.

No, you're right. I didn't understand what you were talking about because you didn't explain anything till this post. I had no idea that you were talking about the charging pad built-in by Mazda.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Only time I ever tried a wireless charging pad the thing almost caught on fire. I've never used one since.

Basically started smelling burning electronics, glad I was there to quickly unplug it.

 

[cz5gt]

First world problems
I think there were some tsbs recently for the wirless charging. One of the problems was referenced as having non compatible phone case.
So suggestion try without any phone case first. Its specific to Iphones if I recall.

 

[bob1977]

I've seen some TSBs but they were rather for CX-60 where charger is more sophisticated.

 

[RedBaron]

If it's any help (misery loves company) the charger on my CX-50 sucks too, with the same heat issues.

 

[murky]

I'm happy to learn that newer Mazdas have a wireless charging pad. Hopefully they get the quality sorted.

 

[bob1977]

I’m afraid it will not happen unless they feel pressure from dissatisfied owners.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Only time I ever tried a wireless charging pad the thing almost caught on fire. I've never used one since.

Basically started smelling burning electronics, glad I was there to quickly unplug it.

A couple of years ago I bought two Qi chargers, one for my iPhone 13 and one for my wife's. Both chargers heated up our phones excessively and we stopped using them. Haven't tried the chargers on our new 15's though, no real need, I guess.

 

[sm1ke]

I’m afraid it will not happen unless they feel pressure from dissatisfied owners.

If you want to voice your concerns directly to Mazda, head to their corporate website and send them an email detailing your issues. Sometimes manufacturer reps check out what people are saying on various social media outlets like online forums, Facebook groups, Twitter, and Discord, but they can miss things.

 

[bob1977]

If you want to voice your concerns directly to Mazda, head to their corporate website and send them an email detailing your issues. Sometimes manufacturer reps check out what people are saying on various social media outlets like online forums, Facebook groups, Twitter, and Discord, but they can miss things.

Below is the answer from Mazda UK:

Thanks for your email, we are sorry to hear of the concerns that have arisen.

If the mobile device is not placed at the centre of the wireless charger (Qi), charger performance will be less than expected.
The wireless charger (Qi) installed in Mazda vehicles is not compatible with MagSafe introduced on iPhone 12 and later, and the operation of the function cannot always be guaranteed.

About MagSafe:
MagSafe is the charging system using magnetic alignment device introduced on iPhone 12 and later.
Not only at Mazda vehicles, on wireless chargers not compatible with MagSafe, proper area for best charger performance is limited depending on user environment such as a case, position of the mobile device, remaining battery and/or device temperature.
Regarding the wireless charger (Qi) mentioned on this Service Information, charging performance of a MagSafe compatible mobile device is not expected to be improved.

Theory of operation of the wireless charger (Qi)
The wireless charger (Qi) transfers power between coils integrated in the charger and the mobile device.
Centre of both coils should be well aligned for best performance. Poor alignment between both coils results in poor charging performance. Therefore, place the mobile device so that the centre of the coil of the charger and the mobile device are well aligned.

Effect of MagSafe to the charging performance
MagSafe is a wireless power transfer standard developed by Apple Inc. The MagSafe compatible charger and the mobile device (iPhone 12 and later) are aligned using magnets integrated in both of them for efficient charging performance.
If only the mobile device is MagSafe compatible, on a charger that is not MagSafe compatible, alignment using magnets is not possible and the magnets and coil may interfere the charging.
In this case, alignment procedure not using the magnet can reduce the negative effect on charging performance.
Even for the MagSafe compatible mobile device, place it on the charger manually aligning the centre of the coils.

I hope this helps.

If you do have any further questions or queries, please feel free to respond to this email.

Yours sincerely

James Bayford
Customer Relations Manager
Customer Service Division

 

[sm1ke]

Below is the answer from Mazda UK:

Thanks for your email, we are sorry to hear of the concerns that have arisen.

If the mobile device is not placed at the centre of the wireless charger (Qi), charger performance will be less than expected.
The wireless charger (Qi) installed in Mazda vehicles is not compatible with MagSafe introduced on iPhone 12 and later, and the operation of the function cannot always be guaranteed.

About MagSafe:
MagSafe is the charging system using magnetic alignment device introduced on iPhone 12 and later.
Not only at Mazda vehicles, on wireless chargers not compatible with MagSafe, proper area for best charger performance is limited depending on user environment such as a case, position of the mobile device, remaining battery and/or device temperature.
Regarding the wireless charger (Qi) mentioned on this Service Information, charging performance of a MagSafe compatible mobile device is not expected to be improved.

Theory of operation of the wireless charger (Qi)
The wireless charger (Qi) transfers power between coils integrated in the charger and the mobile device.
Centre of both coils should be well aligned for best performance. Poor alignment between both coils results in poor charging performance. Therefore, place the mobile device so that the centre of the coil of the charger and the mobile device are well aligned.

Effect of MagSafe to the charging performance
MagSafe is a wireless power transfer standard developed by Apple Inc. The MagSafe compatible charger and the mobile device (iPhone 12 and later) are aligned using magnets integrated in both of them for efficient charging performance.
If only the mobile device is MagSafe compatible, on a charger that is not MagSafe compatible, alignment using magnets is not possible and the magnets and coil may interfere the charging.
In this case, alignment procedure not using the magnet can reduce the negative effect on charging performance.
Even for the MagSafe compatible mobile device, place it on the charger manually aligning the centre of the coils.

I hope this helps.

If you do have any further questions or queries, please feel free to respond to this email.

Yours sincerely

James Bayford
Customer Relations Manager
Customer Service Division

That's a pretty typical response that I'd expect from a first-contact inquiry. A bit better than a copy-paste boilerplate response. The key part is here:

If you do have any further questions or queries, please feel free to respond to this email.

You could now do as he suggested and further express your concerns or issues with the wireless charger. Even if you explained the issue in detail in your first email, it's a good idea to clarify the issue again. Customer service reps deal with a lot of inquiries, so things may often get glossed over in the first email.