“I did this with my Tesla when I first got it.”
A woman who purchased a 2013 Nissan Leaf for $3,000 has a unique solution for charging her car despite not having a garage.
In a video, Crystal Bright (@crystaldbright) explains that she simply bought a long extension cord, which she unravels from her bedroom window, and walks over to where her ride is parked.
Some commenters who replied to her video admired her ability to think outside the box. But there were others who thought this juicing-up strategy comes with a slew of potential problems.
Bright begins by recording herself feeding an extension cord outside of her window. She sticks her tongue out to the lens with a smile on her face.
“This is how I charge my car from my bedroom,” she narrates at the top of the clip. Following this, the video cuts to her outside of her abode, where she continues to snake her cable from an upstairs window. “I just moved to a townhouse, but it’s not immediately in front of the parking lot, so I had to get creative,” she says, cutting to more footage of her dragging the long yellow cord across the ground. Afterward, Bright’s shown on camera walking the cable to her Nissan Leaf, with its front charging port popped open. Once the cord’s connected to her car, she walks back toward her home.
“With this 100-foot extension cable, which was $200, I managed to bring the power all the way from my bedroom nightstand out my bedroom window, down the front of my townhouse, and across the sidewalk to the parking lot,” she tells viewers.
While some folks may see the large extension cord as a nuisance, Bright says that it only gets in the way of one person in her complex, and they are completely fine with her plugging it in.
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“Only one unit has to cross it, and they’re cool with it,” she says, filming herself walking back toward her car.
Next, she shows off footage of herself sitting in the driver’s seat of her car. The TikToker holds the car’s 12-volt charging cord in her hand, which is connected to the 100-foot extension cable. Bright avers that her vehicle can indeed be charged through a standard outlet via the elongated cable. To further drive this claim home, she includes video of a blinking green charging light on the Nissan Leaf’s power back, indicating that it’s indeed transmitting power.
“I’ve had questions about if my car is made for this, and the 2013 Nissan Leaf is made for plugging in,” she says.
However, there are limitations to charging speeds, she concedes, “It’s only about 120 volts tops. It can go in any outlet and usually would be plugged in the garage.”
Toward the end of her clip, Bright records herself standing in her bedroom and using two hands to pull the long charging cable into her home.
“And when I’m done, before I go anywhere, I make sure to pull up the extension cable and be on my way,” she remarks. Additionally, the Leaf owner tells those watching her clip that she has engaged in this practice at her former place of residence.
“I used to live in a third floor apartment, and so this process isn’t new to me. But luckily, my neighbors are completely cool with this process,” she says to close out her social media post.
People who replied to Bright’s post had varying opinions on her car charging strategy.
Some remarked that she could be liable if a person were to trip on her cord whilst visiting her complex’s property. Others suggested that she buy a plastic cord wheel or opt for a reticulated cable solution so she doesn’t have a tangle of wires all over the place. But there were those who said charging an electric car through an extension cable was a fire hazard waiting to happen.
Many advise against implementing the daisy chain approach to charging an electric vehicle with an extension cord. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) penned an article on the practice, stating that it’s ultimately a bad idea. The auto resource says that despite many automakers providing drivers with “trickle chargers” which plug into standard 12-volt outlets, reaching for an extension cord should be avoided.
“Is it safe to charge an EV or PHEV using an extension cord? Carmakers say no, and we don’t recommend using one,” the outlet states. That’s because, KBB says, EVs “require … more electricity than the amount common home appliances need.” Consequently, these trickle chargers often come with thicker, more stalwart wires designed to handle these strong currents.
KBB went on to highlight that EV user manuals from Chevrolet and Kia explicitly tell car owners to shun extension cords for their car charging needs. Additionally, the car-centric website warns drivers that these cables will often impede voltage transfers, resulting in even slower Level 1 charging speeds.
Pod-Point reports that while extension cords technically work, they shouldn’t be used for charging electric vehicles. Like KBB, the outlet suggests folks use designated home chargers for this practice to minimize fire risks, not to mention faster charge times if folks upgrade to a Level 2, NEMA 14-50 outlet.
If you live in an apartment or townhome and own an EV or are thinking about getting one, you may have to get creative ensure your battery’s topped off. Apartment Guide suggests getting a “heavy-duty extension cord” to run from your home to your car. However, this comes with some pitfalls. Namely, ensuring your neighbors and building management are OK with it.
The same outlet says that asking your apartment’s management to install a charger may seem like a big ask, but it could benefit them in the long run. After all, creating designated EV spots could up the value of the property and potentially open the building up to a new demographic of prospective renters. Moreover, there are government grants and funding properties could use to help foot the bill of installation, like the 201 new EV chargers greenlit across the state of Michigan in 2025.
Motor1 has reached out to Bright via TikTok direct message and Nissan via email for further comment. We’ll update this article if either responds.
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