Luckily, it doesn’t rain too much in SoCal. But when it does, I prefer to charge in the rain, while standing in a puddle, when lightning is in the forecast.

Live dangerously.

 

About me being incorrect, won't be first nor last. About being gross...I've been called that too.

Many things are designed to operate safely. And tested extensively. Then there is the reality. Like the Tesla that decapitated the driver when it broadsided an eighteen wheeler.

 

in North American EVSE charging equipment there is no power flowing unless there is a confirmed/positive/activate connection with the vehicle - this can not be "faked" or "flakey" - and let's not compare SAE-Specified designed simple electrical switching equipment with trivially simple circuit design (on/off switch) vs. AI driven beta software being prototyped "live" on our streets in circumstances that ML can't handle…

while nothing is perfect - there are far more risky things we all engage in everyday vs. the possibility of being electrocuted via EV charging equipment in the rain - you're far more likely to electrocute yourself daily in your bathroom or kitchen than being outside in the rain with this gear.

there is nothing lethal about an unplugged EV charging cord unless it somehow believes it's plugged into a vehicle with active communication (i.e. it requires more than simply completing a circuit, there has to be positive/confirmed communication between the two ends of the connection)

there are things I worry about (Innodrive and Tesla's FSD) but being electrocuted by an unterminated EV charging cord is way way way way down on the list of "risks" vs. things I encounter everyday.

 

Correct. I wasn't explicit in my comments above, but yes - the car must be plugged into in order for all the safety checks (including things like exchanging max charging current) to take place. In the case of DC Fast Charging, there is a far more extensive and continuous handshake going on between the external charging equipment and the car.

One case where I will agree with @Dr. G7 is where ordinary dumb extension cords are involved. They are pretty seriously discouraged for several reasons. One being that they are installed between the wall receptacle and the EVSE (e.g., mobile charge cord). There is no safety checking going on - except in the chance that it is plugged into a GFI protected circuit. If your EVSE is plugged into an extension cord and the connection is laying in a puddle of water, then yes - there is a safety problem! This is also the reason there is a 1 foot or shorter cord on the wall receptacle side of EVSEs - to mitigate such a problem from ever happening. The J1772 side of the EVSE is the safe side.

A safe, but more expensive, alternative to a dumb extension cord is to use a J1772 extension cord on the J1772 side of the EVSE. (E.g., something like https://www.evseadapters.com/product...on-cord-10-ft/.) This allows all the normal J1772 safety features to be maintained.

As for FSD Beta, there is a reason it is still 'beta'. It is kind of an idiot savant which does many things amazingly well. But then is punctuated by moments of incompetence and occasional sheer terror. As a techie nerd and retired software developer, I find it entertaining to see what it can and can't do. And over the 7-ish months I've had it in my car, it has improved a lot. But it is by no means ready for general use yet.

 

I have two gen 3 tesla wall chargers at home (seattle) so I use the tesla tap adapter which works great. However last fall I was charging outside as my wife had blocked the garage with her suv after a grocery run. It was raining and within an hour I got and electrical error, car would not charge. Turned out water had gotten into the adapter and the system essentially flipped the breaker inside the car. The charger also went red and shut down. I used the included plug in Porsche adapter in the garage later and it worked fine. Got a new Tesla tap adapter (tossed the old one rather than trying to dry it out) and have no issues.

 

"The charger also went red and shut down."

Be thankful it was the charger and not you.

 

I started a new thread

Charging in the rain & charging infrastructure (Electrify America)

 

I had no issues charging in the snow this past winter.

 

Didn't think of, at least, wiping the snow off the charger port? Also who/what walked on your windshield?

 

When I parked and plugged in it was not snowing. I did brush it off before pushing the release button. If you notice on the charge controller at least the Porsche version the power output goes to zero. Kind of hard to get shocked with zero juice. I have a few farm cats that wonder around at night.

 

no power flows if the plug is not plugged into the vehicle and/or when it is plugged into the vehicle the car has to "request" power to be flowing - which it does not request any power if the battery is at the target %-charge - also to remove the plug the car must "release" the charging plug- before the plug-release is tripped power flow is stopped…

this is the major difference between an EVSE and an common extension cord the major purpose and reason we just don't plug our EV's into an extension cord _IS_ the power flow control interlocks for safety…it's very very very hard to forsee a circumstance where an EV charging cord has _any_ power flowing if it's not actually plugged into a vehicle - you are probably more at risk in your bath room with a hair dryer than you are with an EVSE charging cord in the rain/snow…

the difference between an extension cord and an EVSE is basically two things:

1. power flow control with safety interlocks under vehicle control
2. advertising of how many AMP's can be provided by the EVSE so the vehicle does not draw too much current

once the power is flowing the raw-power feed is unmodified by 99.9% of the EVSE's on the market - and the power being delivery to the vehicle is no different that the power that would be delivered via a passive extension cord

and EVSE is more like a irrigation control system - simply controlling flow - but not filtering the water once it's flowing…

it a flow control device - not a water filter - i.e. if you're grid power is "bad" that same grid power is what is passed to the car when it's flowing…the EVSE simple starts/stops the flow under vehicle charger control - but does not modify the quality/content of the electrical current.

it's a water valve
not a water filter