How to charge your vehicle through the CIG/12 V socket
25 September 2025
Did you know you can charge your car battery through the CIG (cigarette lighter or accessory) 12V accessory socket? Well, you almost certainly can.
It means you don’t even have to pop the bonnet to charge or go hunting around the engine bay looking for the battery and then for a good way to connect the clamps from your battery charger, such as the dedicated connection points in more modern cars.
You’ll need a battery charger and a lead adaptor that enables you to plug into the 12V socket, which is usually on the dashboard or the central console. And do remember this method of charging is suitable only for low-current scenarios such as a battery top-up and not for high current uses such as jump starting.
Please also note that this method can only be used on vehicles that keep an open channel between the 12V output and the battery even when the ignition is turned off.
Many modern vehicles close down this channel a few minutes after the ignition has been turned off to prevent the battery from being drained by something left plugged in. Which also means you won’t be able to charge your battery with a battery charger via this socket.
Do the phone test
To test whether you can charge your vehicle through the CIG/12V socket, see if you can charge your phone through it when the ignition is off and has been off for quite a while. If you can, you could most likely charge your vehicle through the CIG socket.
CTEK offers two accessories that you can use to charge your vehicle battery straight through the cig socket. They are the CONNECT CIG PLUG and the INDICATOR CIG PLUG that also tells you the state of charge of your battery.
The hardwearing, flexible cables give you a secure, safe and snug connection using CTEK’s unique CONNECT system.
To use either one of them, simply connect the CIG PLUG to the CIG socket and to the charger. Then connect the charger to a power outlet and you are good to go.
And you won’t even get your fingertips dirty.
