The modern car has quietly become part glovebox, part storage locker and part emergency closet.
A Portable Tire Inflator
Instead of looking for a gas station with an air machine, drivers can keep a compact inflator in the trunk. Portable inflators have become common enough that they’re now sold alongside ordinary car-cleaning and maintenance gear.
A Dash Cam
Dash cams used to be something only the most cautious drivers owned. One 2026 survey estimated that about 30% of U.S. drivers now use one, turning the windshield into a rolling video recorder.
A Handheld Vacuum
Crumbs, dog hair and mystery dirt have made the portable car vacuum surprisingly popular. Major retailers now routinely feature compact vacuums among their car-care essentials.
A Trunk Organizer
The trunk used to be where reusable bags, sports equipment and random junk went to disappear. Now, dedicated organizers are a whole product category, with one 2026 analysis tracking hundreds of thousands of U.S. sales.
A Portable Power Bank
A dead phone can be much more inconvenient when the car is also being used for navigation, tickets, payments and communication. Small power banks have become an easy item to leave permanently in the console.
A Car-Specific Trash Can
The tiny garbage bin clipped to a console or hung behind a seat would have seemed unnecessary years ago. Now it’s another way people are trying to stop wrappers, receipts and empty coffee cups from taking over the cabin.