I love almost everything about my all-electric Mini Cooper. Except for the paint job, which is as durable as butter, and this nonsense below.
That is a photo of the charging port. To charge, I need to open the hinged door (open in the photo) and then I must take my hand (shown) and remove the cap (shown) from the charging port (shown).
I do this so … so that the electricty vapors do not leak out? So that ruffians cannot pour sugar into my electricity? So no one can siphon out all the current?
It bothers me every time. And yet, do I remove the cap and store it in the glove compartment? No, I don’t.
Also, full disclosure, I just thought, “Maybe the cap is there so babies do not pull themselves up there and stick a fork in the charging port.” And then I thought, well, no, that’s only dangerous when the baby sticks a fork in an outlet, this port is an inlet.
4 responses to “Cap”
If inlets get clogged/dirty, you Will Have Charging Problems, so I’d bet that’s what the plug is for: to block anything the hinged door lets in (dust, cottonwood fluff, dirt, rain, whatever).
Basically, the baby would be fine if they fed applesauce to your charging port; the car would not be…
KC – Well, that dies make sense. Gary charging port has no such extra cap, just the door that you would think would be sufficient.
So you can Live [Mildly] Dangerously (if the makers thought the door on *this* one might not be sufficient) and chuck the cap, or baby the car and keep the cap, probably.
(does Gary’s door face the same direction relative to the general airflow around the car, and is it about as seal-y? I am curious as to whether different car makers optimize for different customers/situations [those who will/will not put up with this fiddly little cap; those who are likely to be in more-gunk-y environments; etc.] or whether one of them put more effort into making sure the door was enough…)
KC – His car does not have all the bells and whistles. I suppose this cap is just a bell and or whistle.