Your laptop must support USB-C power delivery. It’s a new-ish standard for both fast data transfer and power delivery. Unfortunately, you’ll only find it on top-end laptops like the Macbook 2015+, Macbook Air 2018+, Macbook Pro 2016+, HP Spectre x360, ThinkPad E490, among others. You want to confirm that your laptop has a USB-C port—the oval-shaped port—that also supports charging. With that out of the way, here’s what you need to charge your laptop. Wait. Before we get any further, confirm the power rating of your laptop. Most laptops will support 30W charger as the bare minimum. Otherwise, using a charger that’s below the rated power either will charge your laptop super slowly or won’t work rightly.
Before You Buy USB-C Car Chargers
Modern cars now include USB charging ports. But most cars have a cigarette lighter port that can be used to charge your smartphone or laptop using either a standard USB-A or USB-C charger. USB-C supplies more power than USB-C and is what you’ll need to charge your laptop. However, not all USB-C car chargers are created equal. You’ll find those that support 15W, 18W, 25W, 32W. Aim for something above 30W because that’s the minimum power input most laptops that support USB-Charging support. Below are some of the power requirements for laptops that support USB-C charging. If your laptop is not listed below, you can confirm the wattage from the BIOS setup by pressing F2 during startup.
MacBook (2015 onwards): 30W USB-C adapterMacBook Air (2018 onwards): 30W USB-C adapterMacBook Pro 13-inch (2016 onwards): 61W USB-C adapterDell XPS 13: 45WASUS Chromebook Flip C302: 45WHP Elite X2: 65 W USB Type-C adapterHP Spectre x360 13/15-inch: 65WSurface Pro 7: 65WMicrosoft Surface Book 2 13/15-inch: 65WDell XPS Latitude Inspiron 11/12/13/15-inch: 65-90WRazer Blade Stealth 13/15-inch: 65W
Other additional factors to note before buying a USB-C laptop charger: one, most chargers don’t ship with a compatible USB-C to USB-C cable. You have to purchase that differently. But not all USB-C to USB-C cables are created equal. Look out for the supported power rating of the cable. Secondly, USB-C Power Delivery (PD) is an intelligent protocol. If you get a charger with less wattage than your laptop’s rated power input, it’ll simply charge slowly. If the charger’s power output is more than your laptop’s rating value, the laptop will only draw as much power as it needs. For instance, if you charge a Dell XPS 9350 which is designed for 45W with a 30W car charger, it’ll show 30W since that’s what is being offered. But if you charge it with 65W source, it’ll show 45W because that’s what it’s designed to draw.
1. Aukey 36W USB-C Car Charger
This 36W USB-C Aukey car charger will be able to charge your smartphones and laptops right from your car. It has one USB-A Quick Charge 3.0 port which delivers up to 18W of power and a USB-C port. For your laptop, you want to use the USB-C Power Delivery (PD) 3.0 oval-shaped port as it’s able to deliver up to 30W of power.
2. Anker 49.5W PowerDrive Speed+ 2 USB-C Car Charger
Another option for charging your laptop on the go is the Anker 49.5W PowerDrive Speed+ 2 USB-C car charger. It comes with one 19.5W USB-A PowerIQ for charging normal smartphones. PowerIQ is Anker’s fast-charging standard.
3. Nekteck 45W USB-C Car Charger
This car charger from Nekteck comes with 2.4A standard USB-A charging port for smartphones and a much faster UAB-C PD 45W port. Its USB-C port delivers 15W more power than the 36W USB-C Aukey or the Anker 49.5W PowerDrive Speed+ 2 USB-C car charger. So it’ll charge your Macbook Pro/Air 2018 much faster and is suitable for USB-C PCs from Dell, HP and Asus, and other manufacturers mentioned above.
4. QGeeM 42.5W USB-C Car Charger
5. LinkOn 63W Car Charger
If you want to combine fast charging your smartphone and power your laptop at the same time, this LinkOn 63W car charger is for you. It comes with an 18W USB-A QC 3.0 fast charger suitable for fast charging any QC 3.0-compatible smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S9/S10/S20/S21.
6. Satechi 72W Type-C PD Car Charger
With up to 60W of power output on the USB-C Power Delivery port, this car charger from Satechi is capable of fast-charging your Macbook Pro/Air, Dell XP13, HPs with USB-C laptops, and more.
7. Wotobeus 83W USB-C Car Charger
Looking for even more power? Consider this 83W USB-C car charger by Waotobeus. It has one QC 3.0 fast charging port to compatible smartphones and a 65W USB-C USB-C port capable of charging most USB-C laptops.
8. BatPower 120W USB-C Car Charger
We saved the best for last. The BatPower 120W USB-C car charger is what you should go for if you want to charge your laptop at its rated maximum power. The Macbook Pro 15-inch for instance takes maximum power of 81W, so this car charger will power your laptop as though it was plugged to wall socket. With a 90W USB-C power rating, it’s ideal for powering Macbook Pro/Air, Microsoft Surface Book 2, Surface Pro 7, HP Spectre x360, HP Spectre x2 Elite x2 Pavilion x2 Elitebook (PD USB-C), Dell XPS Latitude Inspiron 11 12 13 15 (PD USB-C), Razer Blade Stealth 13/15 and Razer Pro Lenovo Yoga Acer, Asus, LG and more PD USB-C laptop Models. Featured image: Anker
