In These New Cars, Your Phone Gets Its Own Air Conditioner This chill new Chevy feature keeps the gadget you can't live without cool.

By Kim Lachance Shandrow

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Chevrolet

Smartphones don't play well with hot cars. If you've ever received the dreaded temperature warning on your phone's home screen after leaving it in a sizzling vehicle for too long, you know exactly what we're talking about. And so does General Motors.

The struggling American automaker knows your phone needs to cool out in the dog days of summer, too, just like you. If it doesn't, if the temperature around your iPhone, Android or, fine, your BlackBerry, exceeds about 95 degrees, the high heat can shorten its battery life and potentially slow down its processor. Double bummer. Worse, permanent damage could occur and, in rare cases, the gadget you can't live without could completely go kaput.

Related: Proceed With Caution: Should Smartphones Come With a Warning?

Terrifying, right? Well, GM, in a bid to "find new roads" and connect with tech-savvy younger drivers, doesn't want any of the above to happen to your precious phone either. That's why the 107-year-old company is adding a fancy new smartphone air-conditioning feature to some of its 2016 Chevy models, a modern move its hailing an "industry first."

Finally, your phone can chill out in its own, personal "Active Phone Cooling" cubby, basically a nook outfitted with a plastic a/c vent nozzle. That is if you get behind the wheel of a wireless-charging equipped 2016 Chevy Cruze, Impala, Malibu or Volt.

GM says its engineers stumbled upon the idea while testing a smartphone wireless charging feature. "They noticed some smartphones would suspend charging or shut off all together after only a few minutes in high temperatures inside a car's cabin," a statement from the Detroit-based company reads. To combat the problem, they simply directed an air vent connected to the car's a/c and ventilation system at the "charging bin where the phone rests." And -- easy, breezy -- cooled air helps keep your phone from frying like an egg. Crisis averted...or so they say.

Related: Texting and Driving? Not So Fast -- General Motors is Watching You

"Innovation doesn't mean reinventing the wheel," Impala engineer Dan Lascu says. "Sometimes simplicity offers the most elegant solution to a problem."

Simple -- or just plain silly -- we see this thing catching on, given "Murica's incurable addiction to smartphones. Someday, probably sooner than later, maybe smartphone a/c will come standard in all vehicles, even the ones we won't drive. Either way, here's to hoping better backseat a/c routing rolls out first to keep other precious cargo -- like living things, pets and kids -- cool.

Related: GM Open to Working With Google on Developing Self-Driving Cars

For more on how the chill new feature works, check out this video:

What do you think? Do you want smartphone a/c in your ride? Tell us in the comments section below.

Related: This Handy Gadget Is Like Google Glass For Your Car

Kim Lachance Shandrow

Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was a commerce columnist at Los Angeles CityBeat, a news producer at MSNBC and KNBC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has also written for Government Technology magazine, LA Yoga magazine, the Lowell Sun newspaper, HealthCentral.com, PsychCentral.com and the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Coop. Follow her on Twitter at @Lashandrow. You can also follow her on Facebook here

Editor's Pick

Related Topics

Business News

Walgreens' Battle Over High-Tech Cooler Doors Heats Up

The lawsuit, initially filed in June, is seeking $200 million in damages.

Business News

Fake Property Manager Allegedly Defrauded Would-Be Renters Over $200,000

The real estate market is rough enough, and some scammers see it as a prime opportunity.

Business News

'Beware': Tom Hanks Warns of AI Danger After Advertisement Uses His Likeness Without Permission

The actor shared a screenshot of the false advertisement to his 9.5 million Instagram followers.

Business News

These Great-Grandparents Booked 51 Back-to-Back Cruises Because It's 'Cheaper Than a Retirement Home'

Retirees Marty and Jess Ansen hopped on a cruise ship nearly two years ago and never left.

Business News

A Woman Is Suing Disney World After Suffering 'Injurious' Waterslide Wedgie at Typhoon Lagoon

Emma McGuinness was going down the Humunga Kowabunga waterslide when the incident occurred.

Business News

Taylor Swift Reportedly Pays All Restaurant-Goers' Checks to Clear Out Restaurant For Her and NFL Star Travis Kelce

The star was spotted at Arrowhead Stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs game Sunday night alongside Kelce's mother.