Despite the fact that you can plug your charging cable into your EV in any weather and safely leave it to do its thing, you might not want water accumulating in your charge port or dripping down your vehicle into the port and creating muck in hard to clean places.
There’s another issue with water in charge ports, it can sometimes cause sensor issues in vehicles and charging socket flap errors, such as this:
That is a known issue for the electric Mini. See Reddit for some thoughts. The Mini isn’t the only electric vehicle with charge port water intrusion problems either. The Niro EV/e-Niro has a sticky charge flap, water doesn’t help. Plenty of people have problems with the charge socket flap in cold weather.
The solution to protecting your charge charge, and charge flap, is a charging port cover. Imaged below is the one sold by Top Charger, which uses a magnetic ring to attach to your vehicle. It will attach any any vehicle with a steel body:
Using a charging port cover for your electric vehicle or PHEV is worthwhile for these reasons:
- It protects your charge port and flap from rain and water ingress
- No water can enter and sit within your port and dirty it
- Your charging cable end stays dry, helping to prolong its lifespan
- It blacks out any bright LEDs which attract unwanted attention at night
The charging port cover above is waterproof, has a strong magnet, and folds flat when not in use. It’s easy to store in your boot or you can bend it into an L or U-shape and keep it in your cable’s carry bag, if you have one.
It doesn’t even look that bad, you can easily wrap the charging port cover up at the cable end using the hook and loop strap. It then stays put, even in heavy winds.
If your vehicle doesn’t have a steel body or steel weld around the charge port (check it with a magnet first to make sure), then it probably has an aluminium build. For an aluminium-bodied vehicle, you need a suction cup charging port cover.
Suction cup charging port covers are more likely to mark your vehicle than magnetic ones but they are the only suitable product if your car is aluminium. The only other option to keep your charge port clean is parking under shelter, or using a car cover.
The bottom line
If your car has steel panels or a steel weld around the charge port, you can use a magnetic charging port cover to keep water out of your port and cover the flap.
Should your car have aluminium or plastic/composite panels, then you can use a suction cup charging port cover instead.
You need a charging port protector if you’re concerned that exposure to rain, snow, and debris could damage your vehicle’s sensors or cable. It is not necessary year-round but does do a job in winter and autumn.
