What do you recommend for charging outdoors?

[Boomdrive1]

Is anyone using their factory charging cable outside? Are you plugging it into an outdoor outlet or running an extension cord? I might need to park my EV outside for a while, so I picked up a 15A rated 12-gauge, 25-foot outdoor cord. I’m considering putting the connection in a weatherproof junction box to keep it safe from the elements. Any suggestions?

 

[AndyInOz]

If you find something, let me know.

I've been looking for years.

In my case, I'm looking for a box large enough to go over the existing outdoor sockets, and cover a mounting point for the brick, and something to loop the cable over.

(Ideally lockable, and with slots at the bottom to allow the cable to be used with the door shut.)

The good news however, is I've been using my 'granny charger' under a carport for ten years without any issue.

Make sure you hang the charger from a rope/string, if you allow it to hang from the cable you will have issues.

 

[Boomdrive1]

Thanks for the tips. I'll make sure to hang the charger properly and keep an eye out for a weatherproof box that fits my needs.. will let you know what I find.

 

[ed2353]

On the side of my Porch in the UK. Weatherproof 13A socket. In the past 5 years I have had no problems.

 

[PHEV07]

Is anyone using their factory charging cable outside? Are you plugging it into an outdoor outlet or running an extension cord? I might need to park my EV outside for a while, so I picked up a 15A rated 12-gauge, 25-foot outdoor cord. I’m considering putting the connection in a weatherproof junction box to keep it safe from the elements. Any suggestions?

Actually I keep my Factory Charge Cable in the car, inside a plastic crate. I attached a 15' - 12 gauge Extension cord, placed the Charger and plug ends in a waterproof plastic bag.

I plug in the J1772 to the car, then drape the plastic bag with the charger over the Passenger side mirror and plug the male 110VAC plug to the Wall Outlet that has a dedicated 15Amp Circuit Breaker.

I also purchased an old Leaf 220VAC Charger with J1772 and run that to a 220VAC dedicated plug. Receptacle is a 20A 220 plug arrangement that does not allow a 110V plug to be plugged into it. I carry this charger in car as well so that I can plug it in at my Girl friend's place.

 

[greendwarf]

Is anyone using their factory charging cable outside? Are you plugging it into an outdoor outlet or running an extension cord? I might need to park my EV outside for a while, so I picked up a 15A rated 12-gauge, 25-foot outdoor cord. I’m considering putting the connection in a weatherproof junction box to keep it safe from the elements. Any suggestions?

I've got a similar extension cable but it came with a weatherproof connection anyway and have used it with no problems.

 

[DaveL59]

My granny charger wasn't really long enough to reach the car and leaving the front door open wasn't really a good option. So I opened it, ran the EV plug cable back thru the letterbox slot and reconnected to the brick. Makes it permanently installed that way which is fine with me. To make the extra distance to the car I bought a type-1 5M extension cable in luminous green so folks can't say they didn't see it. Now when I need to charge I just hook the extension up, connect to the car and plug in the granny charger, job done

 

[phevnz21]

My charging situation is partially sheltered by an upstairs deck. I fitted an outdoor 240 volt socket and run the supplied charger from there with it and its cable connected permanently and suspended from plastic hooks stuck to an adjacent wall, so sheltered from any direct rain. No problems at all in 5 years now.

 

[SeattleExPat]

I have a Level 2 charging box in the garage, righ next to the garage door, and run the cable to the car underneath the door. I use 2 pieces of 1" thick cedar as stops to prevent the garage door from squeezing the cable. My cable from the EVSE box to the J1772 plug is 25 feet, therefore I just drive within 3 feet of the garage door to reach the Outlander charging socket.

The cord of the granny charger would be too short for that layout, I would need to back into my driveway to be within reach of the cord.