Thanks Peter. But even though the ports were hot all the time in past years, they are not on my 2017. The USB sync port stays live for about 10 minutes after the ignition is off and then that powers down; leaving none of the 6 power points active. Unbelievable. I was hoping just one of them would stay active to keep my golf GPS charged.
It appears Ford changed the power port characteristics beginning with the 2016 model year. Not sure why.
Still confused. I just watched a Ford video that says they stay on after the ignition is turned off. But it is not happening in my Exporer.
OK... I have finally figured it out. (I'm dense, i know) The ports are dead until the ignition is on. If something is plugged into the 12V power point while the ignition is on, then if the ignition is turned off, the power point stays on. I was faltering on the fact that you cannot plug something into the 12V power point with the ignition off because there is no charge there until the ignition is on. Clear as mud, eh? The USB ports never stay on after ignition is switched off (Except the Sync port that stays on for a few minutes afterwards).
At the very end you'll notice the video was produced in 2012. Also the media hub shows the RCA outlets which were removed a few years ago. Unfortunately Ford doesn't always update their material. Another example of this can be found when browsing the 2018 Explorer on the Ford website. One place it says the headlights are LED high and low while in another place (build & price, I think) it shows LED low and halogen projector high beams. In a way the quality of their actual product, as some seem to mention, seems to reflect the quality of their information.
