Hi,
I have an ES 300h and Iphone Xs.
The wireless charger was blinking orange 3 times and then green for short, and I looked it up in the manual and it said it detected metal on the wireless charger surface.

I tried without a case frame and got continuous orange indicating correct behavior during charging.
I have also noticed IPhone slips on the wireless charger surface during drive, but that seems to be not an issue.

What case worked the best for you?

Thanks.

 

You need a pretty thin case for these wireless chargers as whatever manufacturer Lexus chose to go with doesn't make a very good wireless charger imo. The area of charging is way too small and it charges super slow. Not only does it charge super slow, but for some reason my devices have always gotten a bit warmer with the Lexus qi charger compared to my OEM Samsung wireless charger at home. That being said, the case I use is more of a skin than a case.

 

For wireless phone charger in a car, sometimes temperature will get very hot, manufacture will never put a fast charger in to risk running into heating issue. Secondly fast charging eats and requires a lot more voltage and power, so not too good being having 1000+ other electrical components. They just gonna play safe and put in like 15W wireless charger in there... for references, Iphone 14/15 can take up to 65W charger (wired) and Samsung S23 can take 100W (wired) charger, which charges your phone 5 to 10 times faster...

My 19 ES has an useless wireless charger, it's probably 5W LOL, at an awkward and useless location, I never remember having it.... I may look for options to retro fit a faster wireless charger in (just like someone did on the 2023 Rav4 that I saw being shared on the other thread here...) and start using it for AirPod, Watch and maybe phone sometimes...

 

It is made by Panasonic. I believe they know what they're doing.

 

Not wirelessly it can't. The maximum MagSafe/Qi2 wireless charging rate for iPhone 15 is 15W. Same for iPhone 14 with MagSafe only.

 

Until the Lexus wireless charger is improved, I'll continue to charge my phone via a cable plugged into an inexpensive adapter for the 12 volt receptacle in the armrest compartment. The phone is in there, out of sight and easy to access if needed. Sometimes simple, easy and functional is best...

 

The wireless charger is slow, and probably will not even keep up with a podcast playing via carplay, but it's better than nothing, I guess. I'm pleased that there is a nice spot where I can rest my phone, get to it quickly, and see the screen if I need to.
Here's my suggestions, after two weeks of ownership of a '24 ES350: (1) keep a cord in the car for faster charging at those times when you need it; (2) get a few little black rubber bumpers (Home Depot, etc) and use then to keep the phone on center, and to keep it from bumping into the sides of the charging pad when cornering; the pad is just too big for most phones.

 

Correct I meant for wired charger was just wanting to compare how slow it is vs other fastest charging options, imagine it only take like 17 minutes to charge your Samsung from 0-100% using your 100w brick charger at home, and if you use your Lexus in-car wireless charger it will take like 2.5 hours, and constantly drawing the highest power the charger needs, of course will heat everything up, not just your phone...

 

I believe the wireless charger in the ES actually has a self-adjustment mechanism that moves its internal coil around to align with the device for better charging. You can hear the motors adjusting it when you put the device onto the charging pad. For this reason I believe you dont need to worry about how to position the phone.

Also, wireless charging is never fast even under ideal circumstances. However, I regularly drive listening to podcasts for a 90 minute commute, and it does achieve a net power gain. Far inferior to cable charging though.

 

Prior to the 2023 ES model year the Qi wireless charger didn't have a self-adjusting mechanism; however, you're correct about 2023 and later model year ES Qi chargers having a self-adjusting mechanism. From the 2023 and later model years' owner's manuals:

For 2023 and later model year manuals, there's also an illustration showing the charging area location in the center of the charging pad with an area dimension of "Approximately 2.8 in. (7cm)" by "Approximately 2.4 in. (6cm)".

Both versions of the ES Qi wireless chargers just conform to the original, version 1 of the Qi wireless charging standard. For non-Qi2/non-MagSafe wireless chargers, all iPhone wireless charging capable iPhones have a maximum 7.5W wireless charging limit. (I haven't seen any real world evidence as to whether or not the ES wireless charger - either version - can delivery the iPhone maximum power transfer limit.)

For most, if not all, current model smart phones the ES's USB-A or USB-C wired charging maximum power transfer will be quite a bit less than the maximum wired charging limits for the phones. The ES USB-A ports deliver a maximum of 2.1A at 5.0 V (10.5 W) and the USB-C ports deliver a maximum of 3A at 5.0 V (15 W). Since most, if not all, smart phone battery charging systems control battery charging rates to less than the device's spec'ed maximum charging rate for battery service life and thermal management reasons, those USB power delivery amounts are adequate for most needs unless the phone's battery charge level is quite low.

 

It's nice to know that the wireless charger will keep up with a podcast. What about the NAV apps? Streaming audio does not take a lot of juice, but I think using a NAV app does.
Does using a NAV app like Waze via CarPlay place a heavy drain on the phone, or does the car provide some of that juice? I recall from my older cars that Waze decreased the battery charge on my iPad even when it was plugged into a wired charger.
What can I expect on a long drive using Waze or Google Maps via CarPlay with the phone sitting on the wireless charging pad?

 

You could get one of those relatively low cost USB meter gadgets and see what the current and power consumption readings are as you exercise various functions and apps. Start with a fully charged phone to take power/amp consumption for battery charging out of the testing. If you see power consumption readings staying mostly at or above 7.5 W you'll know (at least for iPhone) the ES's wireless charger won't be able to keep up with the power demands of that app/function. Similarly, if the amp consumption readings mostly stay at or above 2.1 A then the wired USB-A connection won't be able to keep up. (You'll need to use a USB-C powered port to see if there's any current draws greater than 2.1 A.) If you're plugged in to a USB-C powered port and the amp consumption readings mostly stay pegged at 3 A then even the higher power delivering USB-C ports won't be able to keep up with that app/function.

 

I navigate only with google maps, and I play podcasts while navigating simultaneously. During these times, the battery is never net-discharged.

 

Using Google Maps and streaming Spotify, phone never lost charge, slightly went up actually. However, it would get hot, so I stopped using my wireless adapter for Android Auto cause not worth the battery degradation on my phone.

 

I’m thinking of buying a new ES (not sure if 350 or hybrid). I don’t use the phone chargers and wonder if the charger in the 2024 is “always on” or can we power it off?