I don't have a garage to park in. My Prime parks under the open sky. Is it safe to charge it overnight when it's below freezing and when it's raining? Will the Prime use up more battery capacity while pre-heating or cooling than it can charge while I'm waiting for it to heat or cool? I know there are threads about this, but haven't seen a recent one.
Hi Darien As far as I have read on here and researched on other forums, unless it's pouring rain you're fine to plug it into the charger. If you're worried, they make products to cover the charging handle as it connects to the port. As far as I can see living in the northeast, charging when its below freezing should be fine as well. I'm in the same situation with the car outside.
I've charged outside in the rain hundreds of times. Never had an issue. Living in FL, I don't get many opportunities to charge in the snow. But on a winter trip to Ohio in my PiP, I charged in single digit temperatures and occasional snow. The only concern is that you could get freezing rain and that will complicate unplugging from the charging port.
I’ve charged in rain, sleet, freezing rain, snow—all with the Toyota charger plugged into my front porch. No issues. I did get a locally made port cover (quite sturdy) to avoid chipping ice buildup out of the port space but I’ve done nothing to protect the other end. Toyota tells me it’s sturdy enough for Canadian winters—who am I to argue?
Absolutely no problem with outside charing in inclement weather. The only time you may want not to connect the charging cable to the car is when there is active lightning nearby. But this precaution is even for the cars charged inside a garage. Freezing rain is no problem, but you may want to invest in an EV charge port cover mentioned by @Ovation as shown in the photo. Without the port cover, it is a bit of work to close the port door after charging.
