Front USB outlet doesn't charge phone?

The front USB outlet in my 2021 doesn't charge the phone plugged in to it. It just seems to be for connecting Android Auto with no charging. Am I missing something? Using the phone's GPS while driving, or playing music from your phone is sure to drain the battery relatively quickly. I can't understand why the outlet doesn't supply power. Only the rear seats get phone charging?

 

Yesterday it did charge the phone while using Android Auto, but two times the day prior it did not. I'll have to get a new cable and see if something's wonky there.

 

You have to use it if you want to use Android Auto or Apple Car Play. I don't know of any phone that has separate USB ports for data and charging. That means you're forced to choose between navigation and charging.

I'm sorry, but Toyota really flubbed the design here with the front USB situation. Why one Earth would you put only one USB outlet in the front seat area when two are required just to use the head unit to full capability? And why would you design that one outlet so that a connected phone would lose its charge? This is one of those design choices where I'm truly at a loss for words. I can't fathom what they were thinking.

Apparently Toyota couldn't imagine a scenario where a driver wants to charge their phone and use Android Auto as they drive down the highway listening to music. And let's not even get crazy and add a passenger who also has a phone they'd like to charge to the mix. That's beyond all comprehension.

It seems like every other car company on the planet understands that mobile electronics are proliferating, and they put more outlets of various types in their cars. A lot of cars have multiple 12V outlets, multiple USB outlets, and even 120V outlets. Toyota is the only company I know of that's actively reducing the availability of outlets for portable devices as time goes on. It's doubly baffling as they're a Japanese company, a society which is renowned around the world for being on the technological edge.

 

How is it an exaggeration to say Toyota is subtracting electrical outlets from their cars while other manufacturers are adding them? It's an objective fact that can be verified by anybody.

If you sent your kid to the hardware store to grab a socket set that had a 1/2-inch socket in it and he came home with a set that didn't, would you accept his excuse of "I didn't make it"? When any organization, including Toyota, procures products and services they do so with a set of specifications. If Toyota isn't specifying that the head unit needs to be able to function with Android Auto/Apple Car Play while playing music from a USB device simultaneously, that's completely Toyota's fault. Likewise, if they don't specify that a device connected for Android Auto/Apple Car Play must receive enough current to function for as long as it's connected, it's also 100% their fault.

 

That means you can't use the sole 12V outlet in the car for anything else. In my car it is already in use for an inverter. Used to be fine back when Toyota had 2 12V outlets in the car.

Correct. You have to choose between Car Play/Android Auto and charging your phone.

 

You're still splitting 120W between all devices where you used to have 240W available. That product can help as long as your phone charger isn't PowerDelivery or QuickCharge capable. Otherwise you may pop the fuse trying to run the inverter and charge your phone/tablet from the same outlet.

 

My 12V outlet is already occupied by an inverter. All these workarounds will have a pile of hardware on my center console and no room for cups, or to set the phone down. Will Android Auto work through a USB hub? I'm heard second-hand accounts that it will not.

I think the real solution for me is to install what Toyota neglected to install - a second 12V outlet in the rear seat. I'm not eager to tear apart the center console for that project, though. The more difficult problem to address is the paltry single USB port.

If everything were as it should be, one would be able to plug their phone in and enjoy using Android Auto/Car Play while the phone charges, the front passenger would also be able to charge their phone, and the stereo could be playing music from a thumb drive connected to another USB port. I don't think there's a realistic solution to that problem given the hardware in the car.

 

You can't use Android Auto from the backseat ports, which is why I was saying you're forced to choose between charging and using Android Auto.