Closing Charge Port Door When Car is Locked?

[eelpout]

Silly question. If the Gravity is locked, but the charge port door is open for charging, when one is done charging, should one unlock the car first before closing that door? I felt some resistance when trying to close it so I unlocked the car and then tried again and it felt like there was less force needed.

The manual is not clear on the closing part, but does say it needs to be unlocked for opening. Anyone know for sure?

This is all it says in the manual:

Opening and Closing the Charge Port Door
Car doors must be unlocked for the charge port to open. Open the charge port by pressing on the right side of the door. When finished charging, manually close the door by pushing it back into place. NOTE: You will receive a notification on the Clearview Cockpit if you begin driving witht he charge port door open.

 

[Bdr100]

The charge door is a simple hinge. There is no electro/mechanical control of that hinge. The locking of the door is handled with that little plunger thing that the door connects with when you close it. So - Unlock car to open charge door, doesn’t matter if locked or not locked to close door.

 

[msaunders9430]

Silly question. If the Gravity is locked, but the charge port door is open for charging, when one is done charging, should one unlock the car first before closing that door? I felt some resistance when trying to close it so I unlocked the car and then tried again and it felt like there was less force needed.

The manual is not clear on the closing part, but does say it needs to be unlocked for opening. Anyone know for sure?

This is all it says in the manual:

Opening and Closing the Charge Port Door
Car doors must be unlocked for the charge port to open. Open the charge port by pressing on the right side of the door. When finished charging, manually close the door by pushing it back into place. NOTE: You will receive a notification on the Clearview Cockpit if you begin driving witht he charge port door open.

That's a legitimate question, to me.
Also, quite observant of you to notice the resistance.

While the door hinge doesn't seem to be electro/mechanically controlled, there does seem to be some type of release mechanism (aka "that little plunger thing" ... I like that @Bdr100 ) that is possibly electro/mechanically controlled because I hear it engage/disengage when I lock/unlock the car. So, I'm thinking the concern is, if the release mechanism engages to lock the door and prevent it from being opened when the car is locked, is it possible that closing the door while the release mechanism is engaged has some affect on the mechanism.

Perhaps the release mechanism engages a catch piece and prevents the piece from moving in the outward direction, but perhaps the mechanism is not affected when the catch piece is moving in an inward direction for closing with the mechanism already engaged.

What is or might be the affect on that mechanism as the catch piece on the door passes through the opening of the mechanism while the mechanism is engaged?
Perhaps there is no negative affect, but the feel of resistance results in the question, to me.

 

[eelpout]

That's a legitimate question, to me.
Also, quite observant of you to notice the resistance.

While the door hinge doesn't seem to be electro/mechanically controlled, there does seem to be some type of release mechanism (aka "that little plunger thing" ... I like that @Bdr100 ) that is possibly electro/mechanically controlled because I hear it engage/disengage when I lock/unlock the car. So, I'm thinking the concern is, if the release mechanism engages to lock the door and prevent it from being opened when the car is locked, is it possible that closing the door while the release mechanism is engaged has some affect on the mechanism.

Perhaps the release mechanism engages a catch piece and prevents the piece from moving in the outward direction, but perhaps the mechanism is not affected when the catch piece is moving in an inward direction for closing with the mechanism already engaged.

What is or might be the affect on that mechanism as the catch piece on the door passes through the opening of the mechanism while the mechanism is engaged?
Perhaps there is no negative affect, but the feel of resistance results in the question, to me.

@Bdr100 could be completely right, that it only catches the door in one direction. one would assume it would be designed to be closed with the doors locked because that could be a typical use case.

but, you can definitely hear something clicking in there when both locking and unlocking the car. which is why I was wondering if it could be something to be concerned about.

 

[Bdr100]

The Gravity charge door works exactly like 90% of all ICE gas fill doors on the market. So unless you have only driven a Tesla or some other EV with electrical controlled openers, this should be totally intuitive. Lucid stayed with the KISS principle on this - keep it simple stupid.

 

[msaunders9430]

@Bdr100 could be completely right, that it only catches the door in one direction. one would assume it would be designed to be closed with the doors locked because that could be a typical use case.

but, you can definitely hear something clicking in there when both locking and unlocking the car. which is why I was wondering if it could be something to be concerned about.

Could be.
It's possible Lucid doesn't even know.
Perhaps only the third party supplier knows.

Perhaps over time there is a negative affect; the mechanism weakens resulting in a loose mechanism. Door rattle. Replacement needed or supplier redesigns the mechanism.

I'm one of those "tend to overthink things" type people who errs on the side of caution. Also, my normal process is to close the port door right after unplugging, but if I ever accidentally deviate, I think I'll just hit the unlock button, close port door, and hit lock button. At least until additional info is provided.

 

[BrianBigNFun]

I noticed when I didnt have my key fob on me that I couldnt get the charge door open, and figured it needed to be unlocked, no idea on closing it tho