Second-floor apartment — thinking of dropping a cord out the window to the parking lot. Insane?
Studio, second floor, my Mach-E parks in the spot directly below my window in the lot, which honestly feels like it was made for this. I'd need about 40 feet of cord to make it from a GFCI outlet just inside my window down to the car, portable Level 1, nothing fancy, just enough to keep up with a normal commute overnight.
My friend who's had an EV for years says this is "obviously fine, people do it all the time." My mother, who has never owned an EV and does not entirely trust electricity in general, is convinced I'm going to burn the building down. I work nights at the hospital so I'm not exactly around to babysit it either. Is this actually a normal setup people run long-term, and if so what makes it safe versus what I should be worried about?
Filed under: Portable & No-Install Charging
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11 answers
11 ANSWERS
@gravelfox88July 30, 2026
It's a real setup, plenty of second and third floor apartment charging happens exactly this way. The things that actually matter: the GFCI outlet needs to be a real GFCI not just a regular outlet, the cord needs to be rated for outdoor exposure for its full outdoor length, and it needs to be secured so its own weight doesn't rest on the window sash or get pinched when the window's mostly closed.
Outlet's a real GFCI, checked that already. Is a Level 1 cord actually rated for outdoor use for that length or do I need something specific labeled for it?
Check the jacket rating printed on the cord itself, look for something like SJTW or similar outdoor-rated designation. A lot of stock Level 1 cords that ship with the car are only rated for indoor/dry use for the exposed portion, which matters a lot more once you're routing 40 feet of it outside in weather.
@hutchridesJuly 31, 2026
40 feet is a lot of cord to have coiled or draped down the side of a building, make sure it's not just resting against brick or a downspout where water pools, and definitely not something people are going to walk into or trip on in the lot.
There's a little strip of grass along that side, so it wouldn't be in the actual walking path at least, but I'll double check nothing pools right where it runs.
@randomkiwi27August 04, 2026
Since you work nights, ask if there's a way to get eyes on it without being physically present, even something as basic as a cheap camera pointed at the window. Not because it's unsafe exactly, more because if something did work loose you'd want to know before your whole shift.
@wrenlee_kJuly 31, 2026
Building management aware of this at all? Not for permission necessarily since it's your own window and outlet, more just so nobody 'fixes' your setup by accident thinking it's a hazard someone left behind.
Good point, I haven't told them yet. Might be worth a heads up so maintenance doesn't just yank it if they see it.
@tinycabinetJuly 31, 2026
my mom said the same fire thing to me
@picklewindowAugust 03, 2026
Did something almost identical for about a year and a half before I moved, biggest lesson was securing the cord right at the window with something that takes the strain off the plug itself, not just letting the whole 40 feet hang from where it plugs in.
That's the part I hadn't fully thought through yet, sounds like the window end needs its own support separate from just the outlet holding everything.
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