Has any company EVER made a GOOD 12v car charger flashlight?

[King_Gorilla]

Years ago I saw a little cylindrical flashlight that was designed to be charged by placing the entire body of the light into the 12v cigarette lighter port in your car.  I thought that this was a brilliantly simple idea.  I don't smoke so the 12v DC port in my car is only used to charge electric devices.  I always carry a small flashlight on my person and a larger light with my car tools, BUT I figured that if I bought one of these lights I would always have a small emergency light that is ALWAYS charged because it would only be uses in the car and then returned to it's charger.

So I bought one of these cheap little lights on ebay.  It was garbage.  The light was very dim, barely useful in any way.  It felt very cheap and breakable in the hand.  Years go by and I started thinking about the idea again.  I spent hours searching for a quality replacement.  I found one made by LED Lenser.  I have used their products before, the pictures looked good, so I bought it. 

I got so excited when it arrived because it was a solid quality metal flashlight.  Unfortunately the build quality is about the only good thing about it.  The light is terribly weak.  It takes a LONG time to charge and once it is fully charged if you pull it out it looses it's charge just sitting on the counter. 

I don't understand what the problem is!  Olight, Streamlight, Fenix... there are plenty of good companies out there that make tiny 2 inch long flashlights that put out a lot of light and have a respectable burn time.  So why have none of them ever made a cigarette lighter/car charger port flashlight that is worth buying? 


Does anyone else know of any quality lights that work the way I am talking about?  approx 2-2 1/4 inch long, solid construction, puts out a lot of light, holds a charge, and primarily charges by plugging the body of the light into the cigarette port on the car?  So far I have only been able to find trash.

[nate j]

You may or may not like this suggestion, but here it is:

Buy a 12V to USB adapter.  Buy whatever good quality small rechargeable flashlight you like, e.g. Fenix E09R.  Charge your flashlight on the go as needed.  (I’d advise against leaving it charging all the time, as this tends to kill the battery.)

[dks]

Short answer, no.

I think it is a problem of demand - not many want this, so no major company makes it.
I do have a few but they are mostly of the cheap variety, stores own brand, models.

A Lithium Ion battery when charged will stay charged for a long time, as will NiMh batteries, so if you remember to charge them every few months, or seasons, you should be OK.

Most mobile phone also have OK lights on them too these days.

[Zephon]

Our car is at least 10yrs old and it has 3 cigarette lighter ports.  1 got used by the dash cam, the second and third have voltmeters with 2x USB ports each.  I have a couple of flashlights which have built-in USB charging so I guess that’s the direction things are going.  The 12V port would just be limited to your car but making it USB compatible means the flashlight can be charged anywhere from the car, power bank, hotel or where ever. 

But no, I have not yet charged any of my USB lights in the car and honestly don’t want to come across a scenario where I need to charge 18650 / 18350 batteries in the car.

[King_Gorilla]

Thanks, I appreciate the responses. 

I know that there are better options out there.  I could simply use a pocket clip to clip a small LED flashlight to one of the sun visors or something and it would work much better than the cheap garbage flashlights they sell for the cigarette chargers.  It's really not even a NEED per se.  I just like the idea of turning one of the cars cigarette lighter ports into a dedicated mini flashlight holder/charger.  And with modern LED technology making small flashlights better than ever, it's frustrating that this product doesn't exist...      

[Zephon]

Here’s something I found on my neck of the woods.

https://shopee.ph/product/180230732/16308468465?smtt=0.25429555-1658997053.9

Maybe ali express or amazon china stuff stores would have these.  Based on the pictures, I think it even has a working USB ports when plugged into the car.

[dks]

This is basically what I have, not rubbish overall but not that bright.
Sold by LIDL .

[Tasky]

Unfortunately the build quality is about the only good thing about it.  The light is terribly weak.  It takes a LONG time to charge and once it is fully charged if you pull it out it looses it's charge just sitting on the counter. 

And this is one of several reasons why big companies don't go down this road.

Nitecore are arguably one of the most innovative torch manufacturers, and even they didn't get very far with this.
They came out with the VCL10, that other companies have since ripped off - https://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/vcl10

Other factors include the inconsistent power supply from a car that is doing lots of short or stop-start journeys, along with any complexities from things like CANBUS, the potential for parasitic drain that leaves your battery too dead to start the car, right up to the additional risk of the thing exploding when left in a hot car, during the sort of weather we've had lately.

Most mobile phone also have OK lights on them too these days.

If you don't have a torch, or just need something brighter than pure darkness, then yes they're great... but they're roughly on par with my Hunstman Lite and generally just an unfocussed blare of light. Even my crappy little Olight i1r2 EOS thing will outperform most mobile phones... and I always try to get those when they're on offer, as gifts to friends who aren't torch geeks!!

[King_Gorilla]

And this is one of several reasons why big companies don't go down this road.

Nitecore are arguably one of the most innovative torch manufacturers, and even they didn't get very far with this.
They came out with the VCL10, that other companies have since ripped off - https://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/vcl10

Other factors include the inconsistent power supply from a car that is doing lots of short or stop-start journeys, along with any complexities from things like CANBUS, the potential for parasitic drain that leaves your battery too dead to start the car, right up to the additional risk of the thing exploding when left in a hot car...

I was worried that it might be some kind of technical problem that I had overlooked.   
A lot of that makes sense. 

That VCL10 looks cool.  smaller than a lot of the similar light/powerbanks/emergency tools