We have a 2008 Prius and have issues charging cell phones from the lighter socket in the center console. Sometimes when we attach a phone to the charger cable the charging indicator on the phone will turn on and the phone will charge but then the indicator will turn off and the phone will stop charging. Sometimes when we attach a phone to the charger cable it will not begin to charge at all. I thought that maybe the car battery had issues but we have since installed a new Optima Yellow Top battery and the problem continues. Is there something with the charger only working when the gas engine is being used but not when the car is using battery only, thereby affecting the phone's ability to receive a charge? I'm stumped. Thanks for any advice!
You have to test the phone and car charger cable in another car to rule out a phone or phone charger failure
You may find that the problem is the plug on the end of the adapter, not the outlet. Some plugs don't always connect perfectly. Try rotating the plug a little bit and then plug it in again. Also, there should be a 12 volt outlet in the console between the two front seats. Try plugging in there. That is the one we use for charging phones. The other one on the dash we use to power a Garmin GPS. As long as the car is in ready mode, both 12 volt outlets should be powered up. I would not attempt to charge or run anything off of the outlets using the accessory mode as the 12 volt battery in the Prius does not have a large reserve capacity. There is NO power if the car is powered down completely at the 12 volt outlets.
Thank you for the tips. We've tried different chargers and the outlet we're using is the one under the armrest in the center console. It occurs when the car is on and we're driving. That's why it's so strange. I'm curious if it has something to do with when we're coasting (foot off the accelerator) and the car is running on battery while the gas engine is not actively engaged.
Try plugging it in on the outlet on the dash. If you still have trouble, I would suspect the phone since you have already tried different chargers. The voltage is constant as long as the Prius is in Ready Mode. It makes no difference if the ICE is running or not. Ron
I had the same issue I replaced the charging cord with the high quality Charger and the issue went away If you're using the USB cord into the USB receptacle a cheap one I can purchase at Walgreens will not work it has to be a high-quality stub that you plug into for it to work Buy namebrand quality chargers and cords and you won't have any problems take it from someone who has tried to go cheap ! Does not work there is a reason they are cheap
