Plug-In Battery Charger?

[AaronMartinSole]

I know nothing about this. So popping the hood and hooking up a battery charger to your battery would be pretty much just as easy, but I guess having a plug in slot like an EV or hybrid would just be neater and cooler and make the car feel like a plug-in hybrid.

So how would you do it?

-I think maybe I would want a female connector that would come out right out of the front grill so it wouldn't be necessary to pop the hood. Would that make it necessary then to have the entire battery charger under the hood then?

-Another idea might be having one of those retractable, roll-up extension cords, a male one, and then pull it out and plug it in. That would be equally cool.

Thoughts?

[brucepick]

Well - -
I had to come up with something after I did an "alternator delete" and now run the car off two substantial deep cycle batteries located in the trunk.

I found my most important concern was to NOT drive off with the car still connected to a power cable. Earlier, I had a male plug for an engine heater coming out the front grill which I plugged into my "driveway" cable, which runs to an outlet in the garage. More than once, I drove away with that thing plugged in. Not good to do. The last time I did it, I destroyed the nice grill block I had made. I needed a better way to plug my projects into power.

I wouldn't want to keep a charger in the engine bay long term due to likely damage from engine heat. And I wouldn't want to run one cooped up in the trunk due to not enough air volume and ventilation to keep the charger cooled. So my chargers are located on the back seat.

I wasn't as ambitious as you as far as a slick looking connector.

I found heavy gauge, three wire (grounded) flat extension cords in a hardware store. They are rated for 1500W, or maybe more. Enough for toasters and even smallish air conditioners. My chargers are plugged into one of these, with a splitter so the single cable can handle both chargers. I run the cable out through the driver's door (it's a coupe) and plug that into a heavy gauge cord that I leave in the driveway. That one runs to an outlet in the garage.

So by running the flat cable out the driver's door, I am guaranteed to see it before getting in the car. Having driven off at least twice with something still plugged in, that is a priority for me. I'm sure the factory setups on Teslas and Priuses etc. will not let you drive off if the charger connector has a cable conneted to it.

[Frank Lee]

You'd see the cord if it was draped over the driver's door mirror... or pull that off too.

If you want to charge away from home often you'll want the charger onboard; if not, leave the charger's bulk and weight at home.