A while back one of the forum members suggested that he would like to add a power outlet in the driver door armrest storage tray. He thought that was the perfect place to rest and charge your cellphone or iPod while driving yor XK.

I think that makes a lot of sense. It would permanently get rid of your charger cable draping from the center console and provide a convenient, easy to reach spot for your phone.

Unfortunately there is no switched power in the door, so if you wire a charger socket to the door power, the battery will drain when the car is off...not good.

I have been thinking about making a simple 'ignition on' sensor circuit that would automatically switch off power to the socket once it sees the system voltage drop below about 13v, indicating the car is shut off. That would then make this a very feasible little mod. At a guess, it probably would need to sell as a kit (socket, sensor, wiring, hardware) for about $65-$75 to be worth doing.

I would like to get some opinions as to whether this is a winning product.

 

I use that space for the 9mm. No room for a power outlet.

 

Actually, this sounds like something that would have applicability over a wider range of models than just the XKs. Maybe cross-post this in the other model sub-forums?

 

Actually, what you need over there is a USB plug. All phones these days have a micro USB plug on the phone for charging. Gone are the days when every phone manufacturer used a different type of plug. A few years ago the EU passed a law that made the micro USB mandatory on all cell phones. Manufacturers followed suit in the US just because it's cheaper to make a single phone for both the US and EU markets. Motorola does some screwy thing where they use the USB plug, but their phone only recognizes their charges in the US. In the EU they disable that feature to make it legal. For reason I refuse to buy a Motorola phone.

Anyway, if you designed a little module that had the USB plug for the driver's door I might be interested. Today I installed a bluetooth receiver for my phone. To install it I had to take out the center console. While I had the center console out I decided to go ahead and permanently mount a phone charger in the car. I had gotten tired of always having to have the ashtray open. I spliced a cigarette lighter receptacle from Radio Shack into the cigarette lighter circuit, then I permanently attached my car charger to the receptacle that is now hidden under the center console. I routed the wire out under the edge of the center console and I tuck it between the seat and the console when I'm not using it. I only used it for a short time today, but it is so much nicer not having that charger plugged into my cigarette lighter anymore.

 

Would be if you had a Sig Sauer P290...

I like the idea of a socket there to recharge the phone!

 

What model of Bluetooth did you install? Did you hook it into the radio?