My aging minivan needs Anker’s leaked car charger with a retractable USB-C cable


A reliable leaker has shared details and an image of an unannounced car charger from Anker that would be the first from the company to feature a retractable USB-C cable. As the proud owner of an eight-year-old minivan lacking modern amenities like built-in USB ports, this would be a welcome alternative to a glove box stuffed full of unraveled charging cables.

The new Anker Nano car charger, which plugs into a vehicle’s auxiliary power outlet, will reportedly deliver up to 75W of power shared between a 30W USB-C port, and a 45W retractable cable with a USB-C connector on the end that’s almost 30 inches long, according to Reddit user joshuadwx.

Pricing is expected to be somewhere between $30 an $40, while availability could be either later this year, or some time in the spring of 2025. The retractable cable is a convenience feature that should help keep your vehicle a little neater and keep the charger in place — since it’s permanently tethered to a car-specific adapter, no one is going to be able to borrow it and use it elsewhere.

A charger with a retractable cable is only as useful as the retracting mechanism is reliable. If it breaks, you’re back to manually wrangling cables again. A quick Amazon search reveals many existing car charging solutions with similar functionality, but from relatively unknown and unproven brands. Anker has developed a reputation for good hardware and also seems to be increasingly invested in charging solutions with retractable cables.

Earlier leaks have revealed that Anker seems all in on charging solutions with retractable cables.
Image: Reddit

At a recent media event in Japan, Anker revealed a 10,000mAh power bank with a 27-inch retractable USB-C cable, while last month the same Reddit leaker shared details of an unannounced 25,000mAh Anker power bank that also included a retractable charging cable. If the company is incorporating this new feature into several new products, hopefully that means Anker’s developed a retractable cable mechanism it’s confident will be reliable.



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