Charge Port Door Magnet Catch

Idea credit: Tom Dowling. When I first saw Tom's Rav, he had some Velcro holding his charge port door closed. Immediately I thought that it was a good idea to defeat the dash-mounted release, but I just *HAD* to figure out a way to make mine better. :) I've been a big fan of rare earth magnets since I first read about them. Now I have a huge supply from which to choose for my various projects. After unscrewing the metal "catch" from the back of the charge port door, I cut a bit of the foam pad, and glued a steel nut in place to act as the strike plate. The only challenge was to grind the nut down to the proper thickness to hold the door in just the right position. The rare earth magnet was glued to the mating part, directly over the formed sheet metal bumper pad. Finally, I carved a notch under one of the grille nubbins. This allows the grille to remain looking stock, but affords a perfect finger hold with which to yank the door open.

The benefits of doing this are: No need to unlock/climb back into the car when you want that door open. If I'm parked next to a vehicle who's owners know me, and my car is waiting in line for the charger - they know that my door can be pulled open and the paddle inserted. And the final benefit is that I didn't need to find a place to put the charge port door switch once I removed it from the dash for the cupholder project.  Plus, I figure nobody can steal my fuel, so why does the door need to be locked in the first place? I sure wish Toyota had put this remote charge door opener money and effort into remote entry instead!

The top arrow points to the magnet that is glued to the little bumper pad that is formed into the sheet metal at that position (see the sister bumper pad on the right side of the port). The lower arrow is the slightly rusty nut that I ground down and glued to the door. I've since coated the nut with grease to prevent the rust.

This picture shows the stealth notch. None of this can be seen unless your head is down at bumper level. I live for using my Dremel.

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