How to Make Your EV Charging Cable Auto Retractable

Are you tired of manually coiling your EV charging cable every time you unplug your car? I searched for pre-made charging cable reels but couldn't find anything designed for Tesla mobile chargers. Then I realized: air hose reels are designed to do exactly what I needed!

This tutorial shows you how to repurpose a hardware store air hose reel into a wall-mounted EV charging cable management system for under $140.

This guide is a written counterpart to this video guide: How to Mount EV Charger on a Retractable Reel

Materials:

1. Open-style air hose reel (~$80) - IMPORTANT: Buy an OPEN reel, NOT enclosed
2. Automotive cable loom tape (~$5-10) - for protecting cut edges
3. Mounting hardware: Screws, washers, bolts appropriate for your wall type (~$5)
4. Your existing EV charging cable (I use a Tesla Mobile Charging Cable) (as an EV owner you already have this)
5. 6 ft extension cable (NEMA 14-50 or equivalent) (~$40)
6. used as extra slack that coils up when winding/unwinding, used in place of a slip ring
7. Screws and bolts for mounting the reel. (~$5)

Tools:

1. Angle grinder with cut-off wheel (or Dremel multi-tool for slower but cleaner cuts)
2. Needle-nose pliers
3. Needle-nose pliers
4. Philips-head screwdriver
5. Snap ring pliers (optional but helpful for C-clip removal-needle nose pliers and some elbow grease will do)
6. Safety equipment: Face shield, safety glasses, dust mask
7. Sharpie or felt marker--to make cutting marks
8. Clamps--to secure the reel to your working bench or surface while you make cuts
9. Scissors-- to cut off pieces of the automotive cable loom tape
10. Drill for drilling a hole onto the surface to mount the spool to.

Critical: Buy an open-style air hose reel, NOT an enclosed model. Enclosed reels are designed to be sealed units and are extremely difficult to disassemble and reassemble. Open reels have exposed drums that make the conversion much easier.

Before removing anything, fully unwind the air hose from the reel. Pay close attention to where the opening in the drum ends up when fully extended (read on below).

IMPORTANT LESSON I LEARNED THE HARD WAY: Don't let the opening end up right next to the reel's mounting bracket, or your charging handle won't fit through. Position it away from any obstructions. You can't easily adjust this later without unwinding everything.

With the hose fully extended on the spool:

1. Remove any cable retention clip (single screw) holding the cable to the spool
2. The spring assembly should slide off once you remove the C-clip/snap ring
3. Tip: A proper snap ring tool makes this easier. We bent ours trying to pry it off with pliers.

Set aside all hardware - you'll reuse the retention clip to secure the charging cable to the reel.

This is the most critical step. You need to cut a U-shaped notch in the drum large enough for your Tesla charging handle to pass through.

1. Measure your charging handle - you'll need clearance for about 2-3 inches in width
2. Mark your cutting lines on the drum with a sharpie marker or similar
3. Put on safety gear (face shield, mask)
4. Using an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel, carefully cut a U-shaped notch
5. Alternative: Use a Dremel for slower but cleaner cuts with less sparks
6. Clean up any rough edges or plastic strands with a sander that can file down metal rough edges (like a sander or file)
7. Test fit your charging handle - you should be able to slide it through at an angle, but don't do so as yet.

The cut edges will be sharp and can scratch up your charger when sliding it through the opening on the drum to wind the cable onto the spool.

1. Apply automotive cable loom tape (or similar) to all cut edges
2. Press it down firmly to ensure good adhesion

1. You'll likely need to remove the roller assembly to get the charging handle through
2. Usually just a few screws hold the roller plate in place
3. Be careful not to lose the bearings and rollers - there are typically 8 small pieces
4. To make it easier, consider using tape to hold them in position while reassembling
5. Thread your charging cable through where the air hose was
6. Note: don't forget to thread through the roller assembly's back plate as well
7. Reinstall the roller assembly with the cable in place
8. Install the cable retention clip (single screw) to secure the cable to the spool.

1. Take the cable stopper off of the air hose.
2. typically secured via 2 screws
3. It's recommended to position the cable stopper about 1-3 inches from the charger's handle
4. Since the air hose is typically thicker than the charging cable, we want to increase the thickness of the cable at the spot where the cable stopper will be installed
5. Wrap tape around the site where you plan on attaching the stopper to the charging cable, I used automotive cable loom tape that I just used to protect sharp edges.
6. Install the cable stopper on top of the taped up area

1. Choose your mounting location - near your parking spot and electrical outlet
2. Bolt the reel securely to the wall or some piece of sturdy furniture (I used a desk)
3. Tip: Make sure your screws are long enough if using washers. I bought screws that were too short and had to skip the washers.

IMPORTANT: It is advised that you DO NOT mount this to drywall. The tension of the spring in the reel is strong enough to potentially rip off drywall over repeated use.

Connect the charger to the power source. Ensure there is ample slack for the cable to tie itself into knots when winding/unwinding, if not, use a 6 foot extension cable.