I had our 2009 Mini E for the weekend, and by Saturday night the car was in need of a charge as it had gotten down to 25% right before it starts to exhibit diminished power. Even though it had been raining hard all day and I don't have a garage I decided to take my chances and just pull the Mini E into my backyard and charge it there.
But before that I had a little freakout. "Will I damage the car if I charge it in the rain?" To be certain, I read the manual and all the other pamphlets stored with it to see if there were any warning messages about not charging the car in the rain. Nothing. "Well, people can use power tools in the rain so why not?" I reasoned with myself.
So I set the charge in the car to 12A, plugged the car into an outlet in the yard and went to bed listening to the rain pounding my roof...
...12 hours later I checked on the Mini and all was well. It charged up to 60-70 percent (it takes over 24 hours to get a full charge) and was ready to go. Good to know that Mini E leasers without garages won't have anything to fear from a little downpour.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor
trjnflip says:
01:03 PM, 12/14/09
it would have been funny if the mini e gave you a little electric shock while out in the rain. cha ching!
brn says:
01:21 PM, 12/14/09
If you have a proper ground fault circuit, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
I made sure my external outlets are properly protected. I regularly plug stuff in when it's raining or snow. I've yet to trip the gfi.
tomm250 says:
03:35 PM, 12/14/09
I have a second 220v charger where I work and I charge outdoors all the time. Rain or snow, there's no worries. Some of the field trial participants do not have a usable garage so they charge outside every day.
Tom
MINI-E #250
@17,200 mi
desmolicious says:
06:09 PM, 12/14/09
No garage?...
But, but where does your scooter sleep at night?
All my bikes are in the garage while the car is in the street. As it should be.