Chevrolet->ke199 has solved a problem that very few people outside of Death Valley, the Sahara Desert or Venus even knew existed: cell phones overheating in cars.

You’ve probably seen spy shots->ke166 on these pages of camouflaged cars testing in the world’s hottest deserts and above the Arctic Circle. Apparently, Chevrolet quality assurance engineers were testing wireless charging functionality for cell phones in hotter climates when they noticed their phones would frequently overheat and shut down during wireless charging, which potentially stranded them in the desert like Jim Morrison searching for his spirit animal.

That last part probably never happened, but evidently, cell phone manufacturers don’t put their products through the same exhaustive temperature tests as car manufacturers do.

To rectify the issue, Chevy is introducing a new Active Phone Cooling system in a few new cars, including 2016 Chevrolet Impalas, 2016 Chevrolet Malibus, 2016 Chevrolet Volts and 2016 Chevrolet Cruzes equipped the with optional wireless charging feature. An air vent connected to the air conditioner is situated under the wireless charging bin and continuously sends cool air to lower the phone’s temperature.

“Innovation doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel,” Impala->ke1792 engineer Dan Lascu says of the system. “Sometimes simplicity offers the most elegant solution to a problem.”

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Why it matters

When I bought my 2003 Mini Cooper->ke629 S, which I still own, one of the selling points was an air-conditioned glove box.

It works similar to Chevy’s system and, at the time, Mini->ke57 suggested that owners could keep sandwiches cool in their glove boxes during long drives.

Because I would have felt remiss if I hadn’t, I tried it once, but now the only things my glove box cools are my registration, a wheel-nut key and a pair of sunglasses I sat on four years ago. They're cool, though.

My point is that car companies might be running out ideas for new features. Even cars costing under $25,000 have more features than $90,000 luxury cars->ke505 had 10 years ago, and now car companies are just swinging in the dark at new features customers might want.

Or, maybe I’m completely off base with this assumption. So, I pose this question to you our readers: Have you ever been in a situation in which you needed your car to cool your phone?

And how about this one? What if you're not running your A/C?

2016 Chevrolet Cruze

Read our full review here.