Charger cable lock

Hi Folks,

I use the manufacturer provided charger cable(120V) to charge my FFE at Home and work. We have a nice garage in the office with Chargepoint stations and many wall plugs. The Chargepoint sations are always full. So I charge my FFE in the office garage using 120V charger. I am looking for a feature/accessory to lock the cable so that it is not stolen. Nissan Leaf has a locking feature and I am not sure if FFE has a similar feature. Any ideas about the feature or any lock that I can buy to lock my cable.

Thanks for your input.

brijen21 said:

Any ideas about the feature or any lock that I can buy to lock my cable.

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No need for locks, just buy an extension cable (robust quality, 20-amp rated) and simply "lock" the EVSE under the hood when you leave you car in public. There's plenty of room for the unit under the hood, and the rubber "flange" at the front has enough clearance to close over the cables. The charging cord can come out and plug into the car and the extension cable can come out and plug into the electrical socket.

Alternately, you could also just loop a portion of the charging cord under the hood so that, when you close it, the hood latch will prevent the cord from being pulled out. This will also allow you to "lock" the EVSE without needing an extension cable. It does leave the EVSE more exposed though, and you might not always have enough charging cord length to make this work (hence the need for an extension cable in some cases).

In either case, the worst that can happen is some jerk might unplug you from the electrical socket, or unplug the charging cord from the car, but they won't be able to steal your EVSE. I suppose they could also yank on the cables and/or cut or damage them, but then you'd just be a victim of random vandalism, and the vandal would be left with useless cable parts and/or a damaged EVSE.

Wow what a great response WattsUp, simple and effective. I was thinking bike lock cable through the plastic reel part. But your solution is a million times better.

Now you can steal it:



Now you can't (without cutting the charging cord):



Plenty of room to lock the whole unit under the hood too (assuming you have extension cable):



Btw, if you ever need to, the "unit under the hood" option might be a good way to charge in the rain, assuming you can safely plug the extension cable into some sort of "weather sheltered" socket. J1772 hookups are "weather-proof", but I doubt the case for Ford's Level 1 EVSE itself is. But, really, no matter what portable EVSE might be used, even a weather-proof one, I don't think I would leave it exposed to rain.

EVA said:

Wow what a great response WattsUp, simple and effective. I was thinking bike lock cable through the plastic reel part. But your solution is a million times better.

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Thanks, but I can't take credit for it... the same idea was posted somewhere here a while back.

Easiest way I found to lock it was to put a loop of the cord through the front wheel spoke, then put a small bike lock through the loop and lock... short of cutting the
cord (making it useless) no one will be able to take it this way.

Once also tried to run the cord over so the wheel rested on top - this is a very bad idea as it tends to damage the cord a bit.

Another "no tools" suggestion: Simply drive a front wheel onto the cable so it will be "locked" under the tire, nobody can pull it out while you charge. But this technique can be tricky to get right, and also inconvenient because the car has been to moved slightly after being parked once.

I believe there is a small hole under the trigger mechanism. If a small sturdy lock is placed there, you can't disconnect the handle from the car.
If someone really wants to steal your charge cable then this won't really stop them, but it will keep a casual thief away.

WattsUp said:

Another "no tools" suggestion: Simply drive a front wheel onto the cable so it will be "locked" under the tire, nobody can pull it out while you charge. But this technique can be tricky to get right, and also inconvenient because the car has been to moved slightly after being parked once.

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I now disavow this technique, as it will slowly damage your cable (or quickly, if you "grind" the cable into the pavement by steering your wheels as you do it). Instead, I recommend the "lock your EVSE under the hood with the cables coming out the front" technique. The cables fit out of the front gap of the hood (where there is a rubber weather strip) without issue.

I would also suggest wrapping the cables a couple times around something strong under the hood (to prevent damage if somebody stupid tries to yank on the them from outside). The two posts near the front topped with rubber pads (that the hood rests on when closed) are good for this. I usually wrap a quick "figure eight" between the two.

I strongly agree with WattsUp...don't intentionally drive over the cable.

I got a "long hasp" padlock. you can loop the cable through it and lock to any fixed object. If there are no fixed objects, loop the cable around the tire patch (without running over it) and lock the loop into a hairpin.

I got a padlock and short cable to loop through a wheel spoke. Haven't had to use it in public yet, but it will stop anyone without a cutting tool, addressing the opportunity theft risk.



http://picasaweb.google.com/102324539916158885601/FFE_Trunk#5999442381621233330

I bought a J1772 extension cord, very expensive and seemed like a theft target. I got a "long hasp" padlock and it works great to secure the extension cord to whatever is around.

To what do you attach the long hasp padlock? Will it fit around the wheel spoke? If so. that's way simpler than my cable method. Just need to be careful about scratching the finish.