Charging in the rain

Is it bad, dumb or risky to charge in the rain?

I do it all the time. It's designed for that. But I do unplug if there's any chance of lightning. No sense tempting fate.

On my trip to Seattle and back (from Albany, Oregon, 525 miles round-trip, all electrons!) I charged once in a pretty good downpour at a Blink DC QC with no shelter. It was coming down hard but straight, so no wind or horizontal rain. No issues, other than me getting wet. I had to charge to get to the next stop so I was just a bit concerned...I also had no deadline so could have waited. But in the PNW, waiting for rain to stop (even in summer!) can take awhile.

My Leaf lived outside for over one year (no garage at our old house), which means I charged it outside in rain, sleet, and snow. One day we got over 1' of snow overnight. I couldn't see the car. No problem.

MtWalt said:

Is it bad, dumb or risky to charge in the rain?

Click to expand...

Are you crazy! It is a scary dangerous thing to do! :shock:

.. Only playing with ya! Maybe you've been listening to too many old ICE-drivers' tales! The plugs and whole system is designed to deal with rain and are IP rated accordingly. Any electrical shorts detected will shut the charging down. I've had a pile of snow sitting on my plug a couple of times. No worries.

The only risk I see is plugging the EVSE Into a non-GFCI outlet in pouring rain. The EVSE won't start, but you could maybe get a shock from the plug/outlet area. I don't know of this ever happening. The charging cable only becomes "hot" after the EVSE and car communicate and decide it's safe to do so. So if the EVSE is already plugged in, or is hardwired, don't worry.

My car lives outside at all times in the PNW. So, yeah, it's not an issue.

Only rain, no problem.
Best for the connections to be dry before you start.

But not a good idea in lightning storm.
Use of any electrical device in lightning storm presents some greater risk.
Have seen two reports of damage.
See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15110&p=339729&hilit=lightning#p339729" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .
One cost $6,000 to repair.
Not covered by warranty.

Stay off land line telephones in lightning storms too.
There have been serious injuries, major hearing loss, and over the century they have been in use some deaths.