Ants attracted to charging port

[Zidarich]

Has anyone seen this before? Ants are swarming to the charge port. Images attached.

Is this something common with electric cars - are there certain kinds of ants attracted to electric currents like this? I’m in Northern New Jersey, so we don’t have raspberry crazy ants up here (I think). I know they can be attracted to electricity.

Anything I need to be concerned about? Not sure if there’s any real damage they can do.

Will leave some terro traps around where the car chargers.

 

[xpitxbullx]

Damn!

 

[mrsandman]

I once had ants nesting around a gfci in my kitchen wall. The amount of eggs they laid was crazy and I was concerned it was going to cause a short and lead to a fire. There is a good chance they are doing just that on your car. Any chance you can put the car in a small garage and bug bomb the garage? Would that kill ants? You should intervene before it gets out of control. Especially before the eggs hatch.

 

[plasmo]

I think you have a Ghost in the Machine stealing your quantum energy

 

[suwaneedad]

Has anyone seen this before? Ants are swarming to the charge port. Images attached.

Is this something common with electric cars - are there certain kinds of ants attracted to electric currents like this? I’m in Northern New Jersey, so we don’t have raspberry crazy ants up here (I think). I know they can be attracted to electricity.

Anything I need to be concerned about? Not sure if there’s any real damage they can do.

Will leave some terro traps around where the car chargers.

I've had this happen twice so far, both times in Florida, and both times when the cable was on the ground btw the unit and the vehicle.
Both times involving destination chargers.

In fact, it strikes me as a really good reason that supercharger cables are so short.

I didn't have any lasting issues from either incident, although in both cases I was on top of it within probably 8 hours of the start.
My son had a similar issue twice when charging our LEAF at his house in Atlanta...cable on the ground.

I have no idea if ants are attracted to something electrically. I just know that keeping the cable from touching the ground has solved any risk for me.

 

[ibdb]

There have been a few threads on the topic here, and similar threads on Leaf and Volt/Bolt forums, too. A quick look didn't seem to find any consensus on why the ants were attracted to the charge port, other than it was easier to follow a charging cable from the ground than to go all the way through tire, suspension, and so on. Ant control efforts near where your charging cable is stored, and trying to keep it off the ground as much as possible, seems to be your best bet.

 

[rachelhikes]

According to this:

Most Common Ants In New Jersey

Crazy ants are found in New Jersey, in buildings where they have protection from cold weather. And they can cause problems. It isn't easy to be sure, but your photos look like crazy ants to me.

 

[Zidarich]

Wow - didn’t know we could get them up here.

Keeping the cable off the ground did the trick last night. None this morning. Will be extra careful though - don’t need these guys nesting in my new car!

 

[Resist]

Went out to my garage and found a ton of little brown ants taking a path to and from the charging cable onto my Model Y. They went in every panel gap on the entire car, but I didn't find any inside the car. The majority seemed to be at the front grill air intake. I have never had this happen to a car inside my garage. I couldn't find where they were coming from after the cable, there were no trails and nothing around the tires. It's very odd. I spent an hour on an ant killing spree and think I have to take the frunk out tomorrow to get inside deeper. I did run the AC on high for a while, with different vents opened and then on Hot doing the same thing, just to stir them up. My car has never been in the rain, so there should be no standing water anywhere inside it and I have never had food in it. This time of year they most likely are looking for water, since my area hasn't had rain since the beginning of the year. I haven't driven it in a week, so there shouldn't be any condensation on the AC coil. I go out to the garage every day and this is the first I have seen ants on my car.

Anyone else go through this?

 

[nate704]

Ants attracted to charging port

Has anyone seen this before? Ants are swarming to the charge port. Images attached. Is this something common with electric cars - are there certain kinds of ants attracted to electric currents like this? I’m in Northern New Jersey, so we don’t have raspberry crazy ants up here (I think). I know...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[jjrandorin]

Ants attracted to charging port

Has anyone seen this before? Ants are swarming to the charge port. Images attached. Is this something common with electric cars - are there certain kinds of ants attracted to electric currents like this? I’m in Northern New Jersey, so we don’t have raspberry crazy ants up here (I think). I know...

teslamotorsclub.com

(moderator note)

Merged with thread on similar topic that you linked to.

=====================================

(regular post)

This is a pretty strange situation. I wonder what specifically they might be being attracted to.

 

[Resist]

Wow, had no idea this was a real issue. The funny this is that this is my second Tesla so I have had a Tesla in my garage since 2018 and never before did ants bother them, until today.

 

[MikeRTX]

(moderator note)

Merged with thread on similar topic that you linked to.

=====================================

(regular post)

This is a pretty strange situation. I wonder what specifically they might be being attracted to.

It's long been known that fire ants in the Southwest will nest in electrical boxes and fixtures on the ground (like landscape lighting, etc.). Some think it's the warmth from the electric current, and others say it's something about the micro-vibrations caused by alternating current. Don't know, but the little buggers do like electricity.

 

[MontyFloyd]

Saw this, could be related

 

[joebruin77]

If you have an ant problem, an effective and safe way to kill ants is to use Simple Green cleaner. The Simple Green will not only kill the ants, but will clean the chemicals and odors that the dead ants leave behind. Normally, more ants are attracted to these chemicals and odors. Simple Green will reduce the chance of more ants coming back.

But since Simple Green has a pH of 8.5-9.5, depending on dilution ratio, it may degrade or strip car waxes and sealants. So if you use it to kill ants, you may need to reapply your car wax or sealant.

 

[Yelobird]

So much for storing my sugar reserves in the trunk. Great.

 

[PianoAl]

There should be no appreciable electrical current flowing when the plug is not in the port.

 

[Resist]

So today I looked at my car and couldn't find one ant...anywhere. I know last night there were still a lot more inside the front grill vent area. I took out the frunk to get a look under that area and no ants there either. Last night I sprayed around the car and put a light coat on the charging cable, also around where the cable sits. I'll check it again tonight when it's cooler. I'm hoping I don't have a nest somewhere inside my car.

On a side note, when I took off the air intake cover panel in the frunk, it was missing two of those white tabs one on each end and they weren't on the car. They don't seem to be needed because the panel is held in place pretty securely without them. I assume Tesla decided to leave those out on purpose?

Also, I couldn't get that switch disconnected in the frunk. Looked like it has a tiny tab that probably needed to be pushed in to allow the connector to come off, but I had no luck with it. So I ended up slipping the panel through the hole and leaving it in the car when I removed the frunk.

 

[GregD60]

If you have an ant problem, an effective and safe way to kill ants is to use Simple Green cleaner. The Simple Green will not only kill the ants, but will clean the chemicals and odors that the dead ants leave behind. Normally, more ants are attracted to these chemicals and odors. Simple Green will reduce the chance of more ants coming back.

But since Simple Green has a pH of 8.5-9.5, depending on dilution ratio, it may degrade or strip car waxes and sealants. So if you use it to kill ants, you may need to reapply your car wax or sealant.

Windex is another option that I've found to be very effective on the little black Argentine ants; I would expect it work well on other ants too.

 

[Resist]

I checked my car again today and still no ants.