Has anyone upgraded the USB ports to support faster charging?

[JasJ]

Hope you took photos. I'm going to replicate what you did if I can figure out the route you took. Thanks for the long description.

Ordering the MotoPower now.

 

[CSFTN]

You have a newer car, with the integrated console? If so, did you measure amperage at the USB ports providing power to the rear seats?

 

[BrettS]

Here are some pictures. This first one is taken inside the console toward the front. You can see the holes in the 'roof' of the console. Most of the holes are covered by the sliding cover when it's open, but the ones in the very front are not.

This is taken from inside the console pointing toward the back and up a little. You can see the cover that goes over the phone dock, which is closed now, at the top of the picture and the phone dock in the middle. I reached under the phone dock plate to mount the new USB connector. The wire for it is running down and to the left.

Another shot of the phone dock connector and the wire running along the inside of the console. The rubber floor of the console has been removed.

This shot is from inside the console pointing to the front. The rubber floor of the console is back in place and covering the wire run except where it goes up and out through the hole. This is the only spot where the wire would be visible, but really it's all but impossible to see the very front of the console without sticking your head (or the camera) into the hole.

This next shot shows the area between the screen (you can barely see the screen) and the top of the console. I removed the cubby under the screen to take this picture. The cubby has four latches... two in the front two corners and two in the back two corners... push it straight down to release the latches. Push down the front first, then reach your hand inside to push the back down, once all four latches have been released you can slide it forward and out. Once it was out there was a tiny little sliver of space under the wires you can see in the picture and next to the foam above the console where I could see the wires poking through as I pushed them up into the hole on the roof of the console. Once I found the wires I was able to stick a screw driver through there to push the wires to the right and forward so I could get to them from the passenger footwell. Getting the wires through here to where I could access them in the passenger footwell was the hardest part of this whole thing.

My new wires coming down and connected with tap connectors to the black (ground) and red w/white strip (switched 12V accessory) wires. The purple wire on that connector is for the cigarette lighter, so you could use that as well.

Here are the wires taped off and pushed back into place and ready for the trim to go back on.

 

[BrettS]

You have a newer car, with the integrated console? If so, did you measure amperage at the USB ports providing power to the rear seats?

My car doesn't have USB ports for the rear seats, unfortunately.

On a side note as I was doing this work I noticed that the USB plugs in the console have little lights in them... presumably to make them easy to find at night. But what I discovered is that the lights are powered by the USB port... when I disconnect the mini USB plug the lights go off. I'm wondering just how much power the lights draw and if this is why I'm seeing less available power on those plugs vs a standard (unlit) cable.

 

[JasJ]

@BrettS Thanks for the pictures. Just what I needed.

 

[BrettS]

@BrettS Thanks for the pictures. Just what I needed.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[BigD0g]

Well, it's done. I was able to wire the dock connector to the new USB adapter without drilling any holes and leaving the wire pretty much invisible. Since the dock connector cable wasn't very long I attached it to the new USB adapter and mounted it with mounting tape under the plate where the dock connector wire usually runs. If you close the cover for the dock connector you can reach under from the front and stick it up there. The bottom of the front part of the console is just a rubber mat that easily comes out and has a nice channel for the wire underneath it. So I ran the wire from the back of the console where the dock connector is all the way up to the front. At the top of the front there are some holes, so I was able to get the wire out one of the holes and down to the spot where the cable connectors are in the passenger footwell. That was the most difficult part. I took out the little cubby from under the 17" screen and that helped a little. There was a tiny little sliver of space where I could see the wire and guide it over to the right with a screw driver. Once it was there I used some tap connectors to connect it to the switched accessory circuit and buttoned everything back up. My phone can now charge at a full 2 amps in the dock connector and the two factory USB ports are open for other things (although still charge slowly, unfortunately).

Any pictures of the process ? =).

 

[BrettS]

Any pictures of the process ? =).

Yes, see above

 

[nnick01]

Just an FYI. My 2017 MX100D (stock) has two 1000mA USB ports in the front, and three 1500mA USB ports in the back. I also have a flush mount cigarette adapter that has two ports at 2500mA in the front. I find it odd that the front ones are less mA than the rear.

I tested this all using an app called "Battery Life" on my iPhone.

 

[BrettS]

Just an FYI. My 2017 MX100D (stock) has two 1000mA USB ports in the front, and three 1500mA USB ports in the back. I also have a flush mount cigarette adapter that has two ports at 2500mA in the front. I find it odd that the front ones are less mA than the rear.

I tested this all using an app called "Battery Life" on my iPhone.

Out of curiosity, are the rear ports lit? As I said above, the front ports have a little lights on them that are powered by the USB ports, so I suspected that the lights might be taking some power that would be otherwise available to the phone. If the rear ports aren't lit, then that may explain the difference.

The other thought I had would be if the rear ports are connected to the radio at all... can you play media from devices plugged into the rear ports? If not, then it may be that the front ports are connected to the radio and getting their power from the radio, which only supplies one amp while the rear ports are connected to some other power supply and whatever they are connected to can provide 1.5 amps

 

[BigD0g]

Yes, see above

Apologize for that! I was on a crappy internet connection earlier so I bet the photos just didnt load fast enough for me.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I just added additional outlets all 2.1 AMP and 12 volt power ports.

USB Power outlets for rear passengers 2.1 AMPS each X 4

 

[planx]

Could somebody do a video guide of the process? I’m not a pro, and the pictures were not enough for me to replicate the modification

Thanks for anyone taking the time!