Chevy’s 2016 lineup comes with air conditioning… for your phone

Chevrolet's "Active Phone Cooling." Photo: Chevrolet

Chevrolet’s “Active Phone Cooling.” Photo: Chevrolet

As a Brit that can’t handle warm weather, the recent heatwave that swept across the U.K. almost killed me. I sat here with my skin sticking to my leather office chair, longing for cool air conditioning that would help me breathe freely again.

But at no point did I stop to consider my poor smartphone.

Smartphones get hot, too — especially when they’re charging — which is why Chevrolet though it would be a great idea to give them their very own air conditioning vent in its 2016 lineup.

“Active Phone Cooling” will be available in the new Impala, Cruze, Volt, and Malibu, Chevy announced today. As explained in the video below, it projects cool air onto your smartphone while it’s wirelessly charging in your car’s center console.

It sounds like an unnecessary gimmick, but modern smartphones can get very warm while charging — especially if you’re also using them for other things, like turn-by-turn navigation, media playback, or calls over a Bluetooth earpiece.

Couple that with the warm air in your car on a hot day and your device could become too hot, which is why Chevy is introducing Active Phone Cooling on select 2016 models of the vehicles mentioned above.