12V Power Outlet in Floor Console Box - Always On?

[renz]

I have a 2018 PHEV (purchased in Canada) and page 5-196 of the Owner's Manual says that this power outlet (labelled as "Type 2" and it's the 12V in the floor console box between driver/front passenger seat) works as follows: "Accessories can be operated in all operation modes of the power switch." For comparison the "Type 1" 12V power outlet (the traditional location in the dashboard) works only when the power switch is ON or ACC.

So "all operation modes of the power switch" means even when the car is off (i.e. power button is not pressed)? I recently installed a dashcam and used this outlet for ease of use only to discover that the dashcam is always on! I've taken to manually powering the dashcam off (though I sometimes forget, plus the dascham plug stays lit "red" even when I do this) or trying to remember to unplug the DC plug from the 12V outlet in the floor console (though I sometimes forget that too).

Does anyone know - 1. is there a way to have this outlet only turn "on" like the Type 1 outlet - i.e. when the car is turned ON or ACC re power switch?
2. when I forget to unplug the dashcam, am I using power from the PHEV's drive battery system (and I assume this is not the case and it's being used from the 12V battery that all cars have - but then my worry is, I'll forget to unplug the dashcam one day and if I don't drive in a while, I'll wear out my 12V battery)?

A little confused and worried (and hoping there's an easy "fix") - BTW, if I could "nicely" plug into the dashboard 12V outlet I would, but right now I'd like to use the console box outlet (it looks neater and that keeps the mrs happy, or at least not complaining about the tech).

 

[ThudnBlundr]

There isn't an easy way to change that socket without rewiring. An easy way to power a dash cam is to take a feed off one of the fuses using a fused piggyback connector - they're readily available on amazon here. Of course, some people want their dash cam on 24x7 if it has a motion detector to capture incidents when parked. I wouldn't recommend that on a PHEV as the battery is quite small.

The 12V battery is charged from the drive battery whenever the car is "on". I have heard that it will also charge daily at a set time, though I've not seen that confirmed. When "off", it will still run a few things like that socket, and the radio when in ACC, but it won't be charging. That's fine for a new battery, but might cause issues on an older battery. As it simply powers up the car rather than starting the ICE, you often don't notice if the 12V battery is failing as you will with an ICE turning over slowly when starting in the cold. Then it may well flash up spurious errors even though the car's awake.

 

[renz]

ThudnBlundr - many thanks for the detailed reply.

That confirms that I'll need to remember to manually unplug the camera each time (PAIN!). Still seems strange to me to have a 12V outlet that is "always on" though...

I have set my dashcam with the motion detector setting, but it is still warm if I leave it on for hours or overnight for example. I really just want to use it as a dashcam though, so I'll just need to make it part of my "starting the PHEV routine" (along with plugging into Android Auto and starting up Watchdog).

I did not know about piggyback fuses so that may be a way to go in the future after I study it a bit more (so thanks for that info as well). Alternatively, I can try to "hide" the dashcam power wire for the dashboard outlet - in my old Lexus R400h I was able to run the power wire easily through the glove compartment on the passenger side and keep the wife happy. Maybe I can try to rig something through the driver side this time to keep it away from the passenger seat (though my worry would be a wire coming down while I'm driving and causing a hazard).

But for now, I'll plug and play

 

[jaapv]

It is very easy to push the wire behind the trim.