Phone charging pad: the Lexus GX 550’s great tech disappointment (should be recalled) (1 Viewer)

[Emergencymed]

We all paid $$$$ for our vehicles - yet one of the most basic features on this otherwise excellent vehicle simply doesn’t work.

I’m speaking of the built in qi phone charger.

I’m not sure of the rest of the customer base but my iPhone with a larger size modern camera module won’t sit flat and thus won’t charge consistently with this built in adjunct.

Even with the cover removed, it’s charging function and fit for my standard iPhone is suboptimal.

Lexus Customers shouldn’t have to rely on aftermarket chargers

Lexus GX 550 Apple iPhone Magsafe Charger Mount

Lexus GX 550 MagSafe Charger Mount – Made in the USA! 🇺🇸 This mount is designed to fit the current generation Apple MagSafe 1m length charger. Tired of the awkward OEM wireless charger in your GX 550? We got you covered. The Fuel & Fire MagSafe Charger Mount is a 3D-printed, made-in-America...

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Or create their own mag chargers on digital printers, or rely on a wired plug when in front of them eating up dash space is a wireless phone charging pad that DOESNT work.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4476596366/lexus-gx550-magsafe-mount?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

IMHO the iPhone charging pad is poorly designed to the point that Toyota / Lexus SHOULD remediate it for EXISTING owners.

Drove a friends kia yesterday. It wasn’t a $100k purchase but the charging pad charged my phone seamlessly.

I hope someone from Toyota corporate is on this forum and takes notes from its customers.

 

[cmfhsu]

I agree with you, but I'd rather just have the option to remove the qi charger and revert it back to a storage cubby. Or at least to have the option to disable the qi charger from inside the settings. I'd love to store my wallet in that location, but I'm worried about the qi charger potentially damaging my credit cards.

Non-magsafe & non-qi2 chargers have been tough to manufacture for all eternity and I wish manufacturers would stop. I'm not sure I've met anybody who actually uses them.

 

[incognito.gx]

Wireless charger is useless. At best it keeps me at whatever battery % I started at. When I want to charge up, I just use a cable.

 

[KAR120C]

It's not a defective charger that needs a recall. It's just a charger that was almost obsolete before the vehicle was on the market.

The issue is what the on-board charger is designed to handle. Oddly, it's only designed for Qi, not the Qi2 standard. So, Magsafe and magnetic power profile standards are NOT supported. Add in a Magsafe cover to your iphone and it's probably not going to work well, if at all.

My iphone wouldn't charge, so I read the manual which clearly describes that it won't work for my iphone magsafe version. So, I just got the fuel and fire set up which I like much better since it's placed in a readable position.

Never looked back.

 

[cmfhsu]

I don't have a Qi2 phone and it still sucks. Wireless charging is just a very tough thing to do well, since power transfer is highly dependent on the distance between the charging coils and the receiving coils in the phone. Offset it by 1cm and you lose a ton of power to heat generation instead of charging. And since phones have their receiving coils in all sorts of different places, it's very hard to make a good general-purpose charger.

Toyota could improve this by having many separate loops of charging coils spread across the entire charging surface, but that greatly increases the cost (of a feature that many people already don't use), you have to build logic to determine which coils to use, and you run into interference problems with the other loops. Plus - if a phone slides around, you have to figure out how to detect that, switch to the new coils that are better placed, and ensure compatibility with each phone.

I just think wireless charging is a particularly useless piece of functionality for a car to have. Is a cable so bad?

 

[alichung]

Agree that the wireless charger is useless. Terrible. Prefer the cable anytime.

 

[jpto]

Just my 2 cents, the wireless charger works fine for my iphone 17 pro max in a generic magsafe plastic case. It also worked fine for my iphone 13 pro max. Anything bigger than a 17 pro max probably wouldn't physically fit in the charger.

It's not a very fast charger but keeps the battery topped up nicely when I'm using waze/carplay

 

[rossk35]

For those who don't use it you can pull the center console up and just unplug the the charger. It's what I did right away when I bought mine.

 

[TS85]

For those who don't use it you can pull the center console up and just unplug the the charger. It's what I did right away when I bought mine.

How quick and easy is it to do this?

 

[Texican]

I’ve abandoned the wireless charger and came up with a semi-clunky alternative . I cut a thin piece of leather to cover it for aesthetics.
But I also bought this low profile but powerful cigarette lighter charger and use a 6” usb cable with 90 degree connectors.
: MRGLAS 90W USB C Car Charger Fast Charging,[Invisible Design] All Metal Car Charger USB C

Amazon.com: MRGLAS 90W USB C Car Charger Fast Charging,[Invisible Design] All Metal Car Charger USB C PD45W+QC3.0 Dual Port Cigarette Lighter Car Adapter for iPhone 17 16 Pro Max Plus 15 Samsung S26 S25 Ultra : Cell Phones & Accessories

Buy MRGLAS 90W USB C Car Charger Fast Charging,[Invisible Design] All Metal Car Charger USB C PD45W+QC3.0 Dual Port Cigarette Lighter Car Adapter for iPhone 17 16 Pro Max Plus 15 Samsung S26 S25 Ultra: Automobile Chargers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[bgoldber88]

My Rivian R1T had the same issue before I got the GX. The 3d printed solutions with MagSafe are actually awesome imo. Would be nice to have a cubby instead of that charger, though.

 

[ahent]

I got this silicone cover and use it and have never looked back. I just use the round style mag safe one similar to the first post. The stick QI charger is now a great place to put sunglasses (I also have a 3D printed 3rd party sunglass cubby that mounts above the rearview mirror) or whatever crap that collects as I'm getting in and out of the vehicle.

Amazon.com: smabee Center Console Wireless Charging Protective Mat for 2024 2025 2026 Lexus GX 550 GX550 Accessories Silicone Protection Pad Center Console Liner Interior Black : Automotive

Buy smabee Center Console Wireless Charging Protective Mat for 2024 2025 2026 Lexus GX 550 GX550 Accessories Silicone Protection Pad Center Console Liner Interior Black: Center Consoles - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[SROak]

the iPhone charging pad is so poorly designed to the point that Toyota / Lexus SHOULD remediate it for EXISTING owners.

AMEN!

I’ve abandoned the wireless charger and came up with a semi-clunky alternative . I cut a thin piece of leather to cover it for aesthetics.

I found this silicone cover for the QI charger, which fits it like a glove and makes it water resistant, but makes charging even more difficult
Amazon

But I second the motion to being able to remove the QI charger system and regain additional dash storage space!

 

[ahent]

I looked into removing it and replacing it with a better charging oad but it's not just a charger, it's integrated into the infotainment system and it's a whole module that is very much a pain in the butt,so that's why I opted for the silicone cover making it essentially a catch all.

 

[ssalava]

Not to introduce a contentious topic, but the Qi charger is not just an iPhone charger, since it does my charge my Google Pixel 10 Pro XL in an Otterbox Defender. However, putting the phone in the correct position to initiate a charge takes a degree of effort. So I gave up and just went old school with double male USB-C cables and a Pro-Clip solution.

 

[swarnerus]

I use mine on iPhone 17 Pro in a Quad Lock case and on AirPods Pro in case. Not the fastest but works fine.

 

[4130]

Another perspective: While not perfect, the charger works well enough to keep my Samsung Galaxy S25 well charged through an OtterBox case. I use a rubber pad so that I'm able to situate it in the furthest corner and it doesn't slide around. On long enough drives, this keeps my phone anywhere between 85% to 100% regardless of Android Auto use.

 

[BoostedGX]

For those who don't use it you can pull the center console up and just unplug the the charger. It's what I did right away when I bought mine.

How did you do that exactly …. I want to put my wallet and keys there without messing with my air tags

 

[Emergencymed]

For those who don't use it you can pull the center console up and just unplug the the charger. It's what I did right away when I bought mine.

Do you have a video link on how to accomplish this task — and my other concern is that it may impact warranty.

 

[rossk35]

How did you do that exactly …. I want to put my wallet and keys there without messing with my air tags

open the center arm rest then just pull up on each back corner of the center console trim piece, and then unplug the connector I have circled in red.