You need to snap it in. Really push down on the right side where the usb connector is. It will snap in place with an audible click. Then the car screen will pop up.
yea you do have to give it a push to seat with the usb and activate car panel. but hey if your looking to use car panel and not have it in a dock the whole time you want to use it try Car Home in the market its free and works great. it gives you short cuts and you can add car panel to it.
That whole system is still just a way to basically mount your phone to the windshield or other surface. All of your ports will still be available to plug in charger or what not, but again you would need to provide those cables. This is not like the other docks that actually have the connections built in.