I've checked, and the phone does charge when plugged in, and it would be easier to attach a spare cable to the USB plug than to use the chunky cigarette-lighter-type charger. But I saw some mention in the manual about possible damage to certain types of devices if left plugged to the USB.

Anyone know if that's an issue?

 

I've been using it now for about three weeks, so far works great charging my iPhone 5 however, it will not charge my daughter's ipad mini.

 

Thanks, dgerry. I think maybe the reference I saw was more along the lines of portable hard drives. Acura doesn't want to be responsible if a power surge erases your HDD, I guess.