Is the 2016 Leaf USB jack powered?

[Wavebender]

Can wifey use the USB jack in her Leaf to charge her iPhone, or is it just for audio playback without supplying standard 5V USB power? The manual says nothing on the subject and her preliminary tests says it doesn’t work.

 

[knightmb]

Can wifey use the USB jack in her Leaf to charge her iPhone, or is it just for audio playback without supplying standard 5V USB power? The manual says nothing on the subject and her preliminary tests says it doesn’t work.

It's only 500 mA, which for a lot of newer devices won't even try to charge at that level. It does have power though, a family member that owns a 2015 (unless they changed it in 2016), uses it to charge his phone (older Android phone) while driving.

 

[Wavebender]

Low power output would explain why wifey thought it might be working but then saw no increase in battery level. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[cwerdna]

Yeah, you're better off buying a quality cigarette lighter to USB power adapter if you want to charge a phone. Try to stick w/reputable brands as I wouldn't be surprised if crappy brands could put out dirty power.

Although these aren't cigarette lighter units, the below can illustrate the difference between quality vs. garbage.
https://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-apple-is.html
http://www.righto.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-teardown-quality.html
http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html

One would hope that a large company would have/can hire some decent EEs and has good processes in place vs. a no-name where what you get could be very YMMV.