Tesla Model 3 $30 Speedometer; phone charge-pad powered.

thingiverse

The Tesla Model 3 is known for having a minimalist interior with all information on a central tablet computer type display. While done to reduce build time and so cost, many owners would prefer at least a speed display in front of the steering wheel rather than at the top corner of the central screen. Aftermarket Tesla-specific devices exist to do this but they are very expensive, for example one steering column mounted display resembling a pair of Mickey Mouse ears is around $500. In this project, which costs around $30(!), I used A very low cost digital display that comes in an neat hemispherical pod. It contains its own GPS satellite sensor and so all you need is to supply power and it will work. How to supply the power neatly? It is powered automatically from the wireless phone charging pad of the centre console of the car giving a very neat solution without USB cables all over the place. I didn't want unsightly USB cables running around to the centre console, then through the sliding top door of this console to plug into the fiddly micro-USB sockets located inside. Apart from looking messy and rendering the console lid unable to fully close, the sockets would soon become damaged plugging/unplugging in a USB cable repeatedly. The experiment here was to see if the speedo module could be powered from one of the two wireless mobile phone charger panels just under the main car display screen (it can). If so, this means to power the speedo display all you need to do is place the power coil (attached to a phone-shaped slab of plastic) onto the charger pad, and when done, remove it slightly - easy and simple to do. No plugs, no switches, neat wiring (hidden in air vent). Made from i) Generic speedometer with integrated GPS sensor. Supply power and it will work. ii) 1 metre micro-USB extension lead (micro-USB female to micro-USB male). iii) Wireless charging receiver originally designed as an add-on for older phones that do not have wireless charging built in. iv) A mobile phoned shaped slab of acrylic plastic, wood or anything else non-metallic that the receiver coil and wiring connection can be fixed to, as these would be quite fragile otherwise. Build video here: https://youtu.be/IgqEdAj3ov0