In the old days, car entertainment often consisted of listening to the radio (if you had one) and playing road trip games (like I Spy and Punch Bug). Today, you can still do those things and so much more. Practically everyone has a mobile phone and many of these are often smart phones. Besides phones, common personal electronic devices include GPS navigation, mp3 players, tablets, and e-readers . People with traveling with children often have DVD players for their entertainment while older kids might travel with a laptop computer.
Powering these devices is most commonly done through the car's cigar/cigarette lighter receptacle. This is typically powered by a 20 A circuit and is often always energized so it does not depend on whether the key is in the run or accessory positions. Using the cigar lighter for power can be problematic because this can potentially run the battery down if the devices aren't unplugged when the engine is shut down. It would be better to power these devices from the accessory circuit instead because these devices would then only be intentionally energized by the driver.
The accessory circuit of the car's fuse box often has an empty tap at which a new aftermarket accessory could be added. If not, then it is relatively simple to tap into an existing wire protected by the accessory fuse with a Western Union Splice or a T-Splice. Wiring diagrams for many vehicles can be found online and vehicle-specific forums are excellent sources of information for how best to do this.
While having one 12 V accessory plug would be handy for powering devices, it would useful to have at least two 12 V receptacles available. This would allow the simultaneous use of multiple devices, like the GPS and the phone charger. Three-outlet 12 V receptacles are readily available.
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