Idea for securing a charger when charging overnight at a public location.

[dhoerl]

I'm going on a weekend trip soon, and working on charging strategies. The hotel I'm staying in doesn't have on-premise charging, but they told me I could use an outside 110V outlet to charge.

So I'm taking two long heavy-duty extensions cords and the charger that Ford included with the car. But - and others have posted it here - someone could just steal it if you leave it in a public location unattended.

I had an idea - put the charger in the frunk, and run one end of the extension cord inside (knotted around something). I opened the frunk, put charger and cord inside, then closed the frunk one click. No stress on the gaskets, and I can't see anyway someone could open the frunk with the car locked.

Tested that the car locks and that car is charging.

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[heisnuts]

Using level 1 charging will only be adding about 3 to 5 miles per hour to your range so I don't know if it would really be worth the trouble. I guess if the car was going to be sitting in the lot for over 24 hours or if you were going to be so low on charge the extra 30 to 40 miles added overnight will be a lifesaver it might be worth it.

 

[dhoerl]

Wife and I go to bed early - car will surely site for 12 hours. That would give me ~40 miles per day. Mostly going to drive to the shoreline weather permitting.

Some Level 2 chargers in town, may go there to charge with bikes on back, that would supplement what I get with 110.

I live in a rental now, can only charge my car with 100V, but in the past 6 months its not been an issue - I had been so worried. [New house will have two high current chargers.]

 

[mikeinet]

I’ve had same concerns. I like that idea

just make sure it’s a heavy duty extension cord that won’t overheat

not sure you need to secure it to anything in the frunk. Does the frunk lock seem to engage?

 

[EddieHaskell]

I had the same concern and bought a used C-Max Level 1 charger for $100 because it has a slot for a padlock on it. (And because I’d worry a whole lot less over a $100 120v only charger instead of the Mach-E’s 120/240 mobile charger.)

With the lock in place, someone could unplug the charger from the wall, but not from the Mach-E's charging port. I hadn't thought to implement your solution, but I may use a combination of both on my next ski vacation.

 

[dhoerl]

I’ve had same concerns. I like that idea

just make sure it’s a heavy duty extension cord that won’t overheat

not sure you need to secure it to anything in the frunk. Does the frunk lock seem to engage?

Yes. It engages twice in reverse of how one opens it. Does not compress the cords on the first click.

 

[RedStallion]

Why not to just go to EA or other L1 charger and get enough juice quickly. During my last trip I didn't bother with L2 chargers, all I needed was charging once a week at Walmart.

 

[Maquis]

Why not to just go to EA or other L1 charger and get enough juice quickly. During my last trip I didn't bother with L2 chargers, all I needed was charging once a week at Walmart.

If you find yourself overnighting in the middle of a charging desert, this could come in handy. I’ll be in that situation in June when I travel to attend a wedding out in the middle of nowhere. Gaining 10 kWh overnight will allow me to get back to the closest DCFC without worry.

 

[jonkMACHE]

Threads like this is why I love this place. Would have never thought to rig an extension cord like that. Excellent idea.

 

[Flyinillini]

I’m going to a remote charging desert hotel in Ohio soon and it’s nice to add a couple extra miles for free over night. If anything it replaces the miles used during the day. Last time I was worried someone would mess with it. I love this idea! Thanks!

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