Some people don’t like all the tech being stuffed in cars. I… added more… Today we’re looking at my home away from home- my sanctuary on the road. Our victim of the day: the 2026 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid.
Auxiliary Power
The EcoFlow Delta 2 is the star of the show today. I am a little traumatized from all the jump starts I put myself through in the past, so the goal is to leverage this as much as possible. Quick note: I mention EcoFlow a lot here. I just happened to have it. You could definitely do all of this with any other brand or keep it simple and just use an auxiliary LiFePO4 battery.
It charges from the car at a cozy 100 or 200 watts (I have a switch on the XT60i connector to either connect the 3rd pin to 12v positive or leave it floating and that signals a solar panel source to bypass the 8A limit). To charge it only while the car is running, I needed to find a switched circuit in the trunk. Luckily my prayers were affixed to the 12v battery located… in the trunk!
I didn’t want to just tap into the switched/accessory output of the car and potentially overload anything, so I used a 5 Amp LP Mini Fuse Tap to drive a relay from an unused switched circuit. To feed it, I bolted on an O ring connector to a beefy cable, fused that, and attached a 40A Anderson / fork lift quick connect at the end of it.
With this shiny new 40A switched circuit, we can power both the EcoFlow and any other fun accessories.
Reverse Charging
BUT WAIT, we’re camping. Doors open and close. Lights stay on. Car is being started for short periods to warm it up. You’re relying on the app to lock/unlock the car so you don’t deal with the key.
ERROR: 12V BATTERY LOW. APP FUCKING HATES YOU AND WON’T WORK ANYMORE.
Easy fix: Hard wire a 12v trickle charger & power it from the EcoFlow. I want to take it a step further and use a relay to disconnect it when the car is running to prevent a weird charging loop where the 12v system is charging the EcoFlow and the EcoFlow is charging the 12v system. Right now I just keep it unplugged unless I know I need it. Not the most elegant but meets my needs.
Starlink
Our first load on the EcoFlow is none other than the Starlink Mini, mounted permanently under the moonroof with suction cups- I used a dab of water to help with the seal. Windows are mostly (completely?) invisible to RF waves and data works spectacularly through it, only cutting out briefly when driving under bridges or trees.
The mount is just low profile enough for the SL to barely make contact with the moonroof when it slides, so we can still use it completely normally! To power the Starlink I fished an honestly overkill 240w USB C cable through the liner, down some trim and into the EcoFlow. On the SL side, a USB C Power Trigger -> DC barrel adapter. No wires in the way of the moonroof!! Amazing. Configure the SL to never enable the snow melt heater.
Dashcam
Next we have our dashcam. This two piece front + rear camera (not shown) is capable of entering a low power / parked mode if we give it both always on power + a switched circuit. To do this, I have another relay set up just like the earlier one on the car’s switched circuit, but instead of passing power from the car’s main bus, this one is fed from a 12v cig lighter port off the EcoFlow. This means both always on & accessory power come from the EcoFlow- no draining the car’s battery! Run those cables along the side of the car.
Phone + Watch
Piggying back off the always on 12v cable we just ran to the front, I am running my phone & watch charger at the center console. I am not using the stock wireless charger since alignment & speed leaves a little to be desired. Plussssss, how cool is this?! The conveniently placed trim behind the cup holders gives me easy access to run the cables & Anker adapter. Look at that cable run! I’m melting. Yes that’s gaff tape. Maybe I’ll eventually do better, maybe not.
Bonus: 3D printed water bottle mount for my completely normal sized 32oz/1L water bottle that doesn’t fit in the cup holder for some reason.
Audio
The stock audio system leaves a little to be desired, so I got the JBL BassPro Hub to help. Long term might replace all the speakers but this is a great place to start.
I love that it fits in the spare tire and doesn’t take any cargo space at all. I used Posi-Taps to pull audio from the two stock subs at the front of the car. I explored pulling signal from the amp under the passenger seat but it was really tight and I did not feel like taking the seat off.
Determining the polarity of the existing wires was a bit of a guess, but I measured the impedance and ran with a matching combination for the Left & Right. You can always flip the phase on the remote, which I mounted by the steering wheel.
It’s powered on my fancy 40A switched circuit. The draw is too high for the EcoFlow’s 12v output. I used this guide for loose installation inspiration.
Tow Hitch!
I really wanted to go stock for this portion, but unfortunately the hybrid seems to be the bastard child over here. It has a 1500lb tow capacity which may be on the lower end but you know what? I want to use those 1500lbs, towing a little uhaul utility trailer to move furniture, using a cargo carrier on a roadtrip, whatever it is. I’ve stuffed the living shit out of cars so this felt like a nice upgrade.
Failure 1: the hitch itself. Mazda only makes a “lifestyle hitch” for the CX-50 Hybrid- useful only for bike mounts or cargo carriers. I saw some people weld a safety chain loop onto this to use it for real towing. I don’t have or know a welder… Honestly doesn’t sound like a bad idea to go this route if you’re down for the adventure.
Failure 2: the wiring harness. I got a lot of mixed information on this. The user manual says there’s an OEM wiring harness for the hybrid. It talks about how it turns off a bunch of sensors when towing and is highly recommended. The dealer says yes you should definitely get the OEM harness. The dealer also says there is no compatible part.
So I ended up going fully aftermarket with the Kurt hitch + wiring harness.
Wiring the wiring harness to the wires (ha!) was pretty straightforward. I mostly followed this video with really the only difference was how I powered it. Since the hybrid’s 12v battery is in the trunk + I already had some power mods, I just added it to my existing circuits. Also you only need to unbolt the drivers side of the trim to access the blinker connector since the passenger side pops off to access the battery. Super easy.
The hitch.. I’m still waiting on delivery. But there’s this video for that.
AC Outlet + more center console fun
I was thinking of drilling into back of the center console and permanently installing a 120v AC outlet there , but there’s nothing more permanent than a temporary solution and honestly I feel like I found it a good home under the middle rear seat.
The other thing I wanted to do but probably wont is replace the rear passenger USB C ports with higher powered ones. The stock can only do ~7-10watts so really they’re glorified USB A ports. Plus no one has actually used them yet soooooo off to the back burner.
BONUS RAGE EXPRESSION
WHO THE FUCK AT KARR (aftermarket security system) HAD THE DUMBASS IDEA TO HONK THE CAR EVERY TIME THE FUCKING SYSTEM IS ARMED OR DISARMED- EVERY TIME YOU LOCK OR UNLOCK THE CAR. ARE THEY INSANE?
1. I didn’t even want the system, the dealer threw it in as a freebie since it was already installed & they wanted to avoid uninstalling it.
2. The system kind of sucks. Imagine this, you park your car in a sketchy area. The car is off and you lock the doors. You chill for a bit, maybe 30-60 seconds. Someone comes to kill you. You try to start the car, immobilizer kicks in because the system is armed. You’re panicking. You can’t drive off unless you unlock your doors and disarm the system. HOW ABOUT NO.
3. Alternate timeline: you’re not murdered, you get home at 1am, lock the car, BEEP HONK BEEP HONK, realize you forgot your phone inside the car, BEEP HONK BEEP HONK BEEP HONK BEEP HONK. Jeeeeeeeeeeez.
Luckily you can disable the honking “feature” in the KARR app. And you can disable/bypass the entire system by putting it in the (terribly named!) “valet mode”. Also, you can unplug the obnoxious aftermarket light that was gently SCREWED into my car. Fuck those guys.
(tuck this wire away after unplugging)