You Need This: A Car Refrigerator Cool Box
Tabatha Chovanetz
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The Coolest Car Add-on Keeps Everyone Hydrated and Happy
You can be the coolest mom, dad, aunt, uncle or friend—both literally and figuratively—with a built-in car refrigerator. This accessory, whether a built-in cool box or an add-on cooler, is a luxury that keeps the everyone cool:
- You don’t have to remember to buy ice
- It’s accessible from the passenger compartment
- It doesn’t take up extra cargo space
- Some will even keep frozen items cold
Many luxury cars and SUVs offer the option of a built in cool box car refrigerator, there are easy after-market options for plug-and-go car refrigerators and coolers, and if you own a model that offered it as an option, you might be able to buy a used one and have it installed. There are lots of options for keeping your drinks and snacks cool on the go.
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Cadillac’s built-in cool box, here seen in the Escalade. Photo: Cadillac
Built-in Car Refrigerator for the Win
In-car refrigerators tend to be small and hold just a few bottles or smaller items. They are great for medications that need to stay cool, or snacks that might otherwise melt. And, they provide the convenience of having chilled items on the go. Typically they are built into the front seat center console and can be turned on or off, so you can use it to store other things, too. Some high end luxury cars, such as Rolls Royce and Bentley models, have a cooler in the rear seat as well, though it’s not unheard of to find a cooler in the center row of some SUVs and family cars, such as older model Ford Flex and Honda Odyssey minivans.
Related: Car Emergency Kit Must-Haves
Perfect size car fridge for Tesla Model Y. Photo: Amazon
Retrofitting a Cool Box Car Refrigerator is a Great Option
Clever inventors and ebay sellers have come up with all sorts of options for built in refrigerators. It’s possible to buy a used built in refrigerator for an older car if it was originally sold as an option, or if your car has a cool box that is not working. Tesla Model Y owners can get a TESCAMP car refrigerator to chill treats. It conveniently fits just behind the console in the second row. It can accommodate up to eight cans of soda, or eight small bottles of milk for your little one. Priced from $299.
Related: Coolers for Keeping your Cool
There’s a chilled console for drinks in the Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Photo: Kim-Marie Evans
A Great Solution for Active Families
We are hiking, camping, boating, and most exhausting, just watching the kids play sports. All these activities demand a cool drink. Wagoneer recognizes this and has included a console cool box conveniently located in the center console. This one is pretty spacious, fitting 6 Fiji bottles with room for snacks, too. The car refrigerator in the Cadillac Escalade also has a freezer mode for keeping things really, really cold.
We love the versatility of the Icecool in-car refrigerator cooler. Photo: @iceco_icecool via Instagram
Bring Your Own Cooler
While some car makers don’t offer a built-in cooler, they do offer their own brand or have partnerships with cooler companies to offer a properly sized cooler to customers. Land Rover, which has built-in cool boxes in many of its models, also offers a mini-refrigerator for the backseat that sits in the center seat. With a leather covered top, it is held in place by the center seat belt and plugs into the rear auxiliary socket. It fits into the. Discovery, Range Rover, or Defender or really, any Land Rover or Range Rover. There are other versions of these coolers available, too, as well as standard size coolers that can stow in the cargo area. We like the plug-in versions that don’t require ice, that can plug into an outlet once you reach your destination and will hold their temperature for some time after power is disconnected.
Like the other Cullinan models, expect luxurious details like a compartment with crystal glasses and a decanter to store your favorite drink. Photo: Becky Fixel
Never Let Your Champagne Get Warm
As children grow up, their needs—and yours—change. Maybe instead of baseball games, you are now driving to a regatta, or your son’s engagement party, and you want to bring that special bottle of champagne you’ve been saving. Mercedes-Benz Maybach, and luxury sedans and SUVs from Rolls Royce and Bentley have optional center consoles designed just for champagne and flutes. And if these cars are out of your budget just for a fancy car refrigerator, think about renting one from Turo for that special occasion.
Yes, that’s a COOLER in the console! Photo by Shannon Entin.
What You Need to Know about These Insulated Boxes
- The refrigerated consoles only work when the car is running, so they are ideal for a road trip. Though the cold box is well insulated and will stay cooler than the rest of the car, it will not keep perishables at an optimal temperature.
- A car refrigerator is great for bringing home a doggie bag from a restaurant – but don’t forget to take the food out when you get home, or you will be in for a nasty surprise the next day!
- A perfect place to stash chocolate. We just recently stopped in Nashville, Tennessee at the Goo Goo Cluster Chocolate Company and what better way to store our chocolate while we ran into a couple of other stores?
- Accessibility! Typically placed in the center of the car, cool boxes are reachable by second row passengers. Most cool boxes are between the front seats so everyone can reach it (or, have your chauffeur hand you a drink).
- All those cool drinks may lead to extra stops. Sure, you don’t have to pick up drinks, but now the kids could be so well hydrated, you will have to make an emergency stop for the bathroom.
- It’s crucial to maintain proper food safety practices, as well as the cleanliness of the cooler to prevent contamination or odors.
Related: Riding off in Style
This used console cool box for the Cadillac Escalade is available for sale on ebay. Photo: eBay
Some of the Best Cars With Refrigerated Consoles
Car refrigerators are typically part of an option package that may or may not be available on all models and can carry a price tag of several hundred dollars. If it’s an important feature for you, search the options of the models you’re considering purchasing; you may need to special-order a car in order to get the cool box option; check with your dealer. Car refrigerator cool boxes come and go in popularity with car makers, but here are some current and past models that have featured them:
Related: Luxury 3-Row SUV, the 2024 Lexus GX
- Honda Odyssey
- Toyota Sienna
- VW Atlas
- Ford Flex
- Tesla Model Y
- Lexus GX
- Cadillac Escalade
- Land Rover Range Rover models
- Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer
- Rolls-Royce
- Bentley
Doesn’t this beat lugging your dented Yeti around all summer?
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