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See here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...4/#post2723389
and here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...0/#post1710314.
So the main differences are:
1. Not a CTEK so slightly different cables and plugs but same concept.
2. Positive connection directly on the charging post rather than underneath on the bus bar. Required cutting a slot for the wire/cable in the red plastic post cover so not as neat as your solution.
3. Pig tail plug tucked up between hood/bonnet and plastic liner, flip out with one finger to access then tuck back again when finished.
See here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...4/#post2723389
and here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...0/#post1710314.
So the main differences are:
1. Not a CTEK so slightly different cables and plugs but same concept.
2. Positive connection directly on the charging post rather than underneath on the bus bar. Required cutting a slot for the wire/cable in the red plastic post cover so not as neat as your solution.
3. Pig tail plug tucked up between hood/bonnet and plastic liner, flip out with one finger to access then tuck back again when finished.
Mine is plugged in 90% of the time it's in the garage. It's really a weekend car but even during the week if it's going to sit more than a day I plug it in. It's very easy with the pigtail inside the trunk/boot--just open and plug in.
A WORD OF ADVICE: Make yourself a nice laminated 8 1/2" X 11" full sheet of paper/cardstock that has written in big bold letters on both sides "BATTERY TENDER CONNECTED IN FRONT/REAR" and place it on the driver's seat when you plug in and leave the car. If you don't plug in every time, you will invariably forget to unplug it when you're in a hurry and although most tenders are technically a quick disconnect, you can snap the cord in half (or worse--pull the unit off its mount and drag it into the car or run it over). This is especially important if you have a significant other or someone else who uses the car and may not think to check if it's plugged in before driving it.
I made this mistake once with my previous BMW and never again now that I have the sign. Luckily, it only ruined the CTEK and nothing worse.
My god, I just about did this for my first time on the weekend…Total brain fart that usually never occurs, and I remembered just at the last second before doing any damage. Yup, a big blinking sign might be needed… ;-0 Thought of your comment right away.
Pretty sure it would have just disconnected, or damaged the connector, but if it’s all the same I’d rather not find out.
I had been in and out all day with the car. I should just leave it disconnected through the day when I have days like that. That’s the problem, in a way it’s too convenient and easy :-0
...By using the under-hood connectors for the CTek installation, you're bypassing the Battery Maintenance System (BMS)...
I read a JLR source advising otherwise – that the under-hood points ensure BMS is in the loop and also that they permit simultaneous charging of the second battery on early models that have one.
I read a JLR source advising otherwise – that the under-hood points ensure BMS is in the loop and also that they permit simultaneous charging of the second battery on early models that have one.
Yup, under the hood is quite literally the way JLR suggests to the dealers that the cars should be hooked up on the floor. This somehow came up in conversation with my dealer, and that’s what they told me. No BMS issues at all. They also obviously don’t want wires running everywhere when cars are on display, and they can plug to outlets in the floor under the car to achieve that etc…
Well, I did have my CTEK connected to the bus bar and ground coming out of the trunk with the trunk lid closed and the CTEK on the garage floor. Forgot about it, put the car in reverse and ran over the CTEK and the cable to the connector in the trunk did disconnect/pull out with no damage. The CTEK body was not damaged and it worked when I plugged everything back in. Now I just leave my trunk lid open to remind me....
I have not come across anyone setting theirs up like the way I have on my 2024 R. For this reason I thought that it might be helpful/useful to someone. This probably won't interest anyone that has a hard need/requirement to connect their charger to the back end of their car. Regardless, here goes nothing...
You would need this CTEK product, or an equivalent, to hardwire your connection port to the front area of the vehicle -->
For whatever the reason this product does not seem readily available in North America. I brought it in from Europe. A bit annoying, but whatever...
I have seen some talk out there about putting the hardwired port in the grill area of the car for those who want it in the front. I'm personally just not a fan of that. I wanted something that would be completely invisible until one needs to use it, and I was hoping to locate it in an area that will be a bit more protected from the elements (despite having a port hood). I chose to mount my connection port in the front wheel well region on the right side of the car. With the way I have done it you can't see the port at all. It is nice and stable for plugging and unplugging, easy to access, etc...
The port, of course, gets hardwired to the positive jumper lead at the front right of the engine bay. I chose to mount the positive wire of my connection port cable to the positive jump lead by putting the wire inside the box where it lives. I've heard of some drilling a small hole in the positive jumper lead portion that lives outside the box and attaching there, but I don't like that idea. Feels a bit messy to me. Opening that box up is easy. It's 2 screws and 3 clips and you're in. You can see in the pic I provided for the internals of the box where I wired the red positive wire of my cable to (i.e.: The one to the very left of that particular image). There's lots of room to feed the wire into the box alongside the other wires that are already going into it.
The negative wire of the connector cable I hardwired to the dedicated grounding post that typically gets used in the engine bay for jump starts.
I used some small zip ties to tie my wires to existing cables to make things somewhat neat...
Then the connector side of the cable I routed to the right side of the car. There's a perfect spot to run it through to over there, and to bring it into the wheel well. You will see in the pics where I ran a larger zip tie to stabilize the connector once positioned. This guarantees, of course, that it will not move while plugging/unplugging.
Be sure to orient the connector such that the button on the attaching cable (i.e.: The one going into your mounted port) can face into the wheel well towards the tire. If you don't do this it will be next to impossible to connect/disconnect.
I filled the mounted port with dielectric grease as a precaution. It shouldn't take much weather in that location, and it has a hood, but still...Better safe than sorry I say...
That's about it I guess. It was pretty straight forward and not invasive at all. I'm personally very pleased with it for my needs, and the aesthetic is great in my opinion.
So no need to open the hood? I want to do this as well. I have all my motorcycles with NoCo pigtails… I have been using alligator clips for now but time to make it a permanent setup.
Yep, no need to open the hood at all, you don't even need to unlock the car!
I have much the same set-up the main difference being I am one of those who drilled a hole in the positive charging post and bolted the positive maintainer lead to it.
So no need to open the hood? I want to do this as well. I have all my motorcycles with NoCo pigtails… I have been using alligator clips for now but time to make it a permanent setup.
Thank you!
That’s right sir. Quite possibly the best mod I’ve done since I got the car. I had to make it convenient in order to help ensure I would consistently plug in. It’s just so easy.
If you couldn’t tell from the pics, you’d literally never even know it’s there.
Last edited by DMeister; Feb 18, 2026 at 07:06 PM.
I'll probably go with a pigtail in the back and the 2.5m extension lead so I can snake it under the garage door to keep the unit indoors even thought the car is outside. Cable is on the way.
They also obviously don’t want wires running everywhere when cars are on display…
Jay Leno let me wander around his garage(s) once, and I wasn't much bothered (haha!) to see virtually every car with its hood left ajar to allow for battery maintainer wires, because they all get driven, eventually. Of course, none was for sale.
Jay Leno let me wander around his garage(s) once, and I wasn't much bothered (haha!) to see virtually every car with its hood left ajar to allow for battery maintainer wires, because they all get driven, eventually. Of course, none was for sale.
Wow, that sounds like an interesting story. How does one find themselves wondering around Jay Leno’ garage? Would be a fun experience for sure.
Well, I did have my CTEK connected to the bus bar and ground coming out of the trunk with the trunk lid closed and the CTEK on the garage floor. Forgot about it, put the car in reverse and ran over the CTEK and the cable to the connector in the trunk did disconnect/pull out with no damage. .
That "Ounce of Prevention" : A magnetic connector.
Pro tip: in any of my vehicles with a battery tender, I have printed up the sign below in full 8 1/2" x 11" (double-sided, laminated, and bright pink card stock) and whenever I connect the tender I place the sign on the driver's seat. I keep the trunk lid closed in the F-Type so the trunk lights don't drain the battery and so it can be locked with the pigtail coming out under the lid (very easy in the convertible). Invariably, you or someone else will be distracted or forget and drive off with the tender attached. Prior to using the sign, I did it more than once. Since using these signs, it's never happened again. My truck also sits for days at a time and has the pigtail connector sticking out of the corner of the grill so everything is closed as well. That sign reads 'Tender Connected In Grill'.
Last edited by Thunder Dump; Feb 19, 2026 at 08:57 AM.
Wow, that sounds like an interesting story. How does one find themselves wondering around Jay Leno’ garage? Would be a fun experience for sure.
Jay has a full commercial kitchen at the garage and hosts a big Italian-American feast there every Thanksgiving, and he was a regular customer of my wife's big designer table linen rental company (also used by Oprah, lavish weddings, Oscars parties, etc.). I asked if I could deliver the linens one year, when I still drove an RX-8, which I knew Jay also owned. He happened to be on the lot when I pulled in, and he waved me into the bigger of his two cavernous garages for unloading. I introduced myself and we chatted about rotary engines for a bit; then he told me to show myself around, which I did for about an hour, seeing pretty much everything and snapping photos—just me and hundreds of amazing vehicles. It felt pretty special, as you can imagine.
Jay has a full commercial kitchen at the garage and hosts a big Italian-American feast there every Thanksgiving, and he was a regular customer of my wife's big designer table linen rental company (also used by Oprah, lavish weddings, Oscars parties, etc.). I asked if I could deliver the linens one year, when I still drove an RX-8, which I knew Jay also owned. He happened to be on the lot when I pulled in, and he waved me into the bigger of his two cavernous garages for unloading. I introduced myself and we chatted about rotary engines for a bit; then he told me to show myself around, which I did for about an hour, seeing pretty much everything and snapping photos—just me and hundreds of amazing vehicles. It felt pretty special, as you can imagine.
That’s an amazing story! Love watching his content. He’s a good human too.
I read a JLR source advising otherwise – that the under-hood points ensure BMS is in the loop and also that they permit simultaneous charging of the second battery on early models that have one.
Hey All,
Since a post I made was quoted in this latest upwelling of this apparently undying issue, I feel a need to defend myself. Don't mean to step on anybody's toes, and I certainly don't intend to trigger an argument, but...
At issue then was how to attach a CTek battery maintainer on a permanent basis. Prevailing forum consensus at the time was in the trunk/boot and not the hood/bonnet. Various ways were suggested, with the important factor being to install the positive lead to the buss bar and not directly to the battery post.
My own researches prior to installing my own CTek two years before this thread started, found corroborative documentation in the JLR instructions for installing a Battery Charging kit on an F-Type. Jaguar, like many other manufacturers, offered a brand-labeled CTek battery maintainer as an accessory, and this doc was provided with that accessory. --- See the attached file. Note that this doc is marked as for the MY 2013 model, which would have had the second battery. While there doesn't seem to be an updated instructed doc for my MY 2021, my guess is that there would seem no need to develop one.
Ramart, you had extracted my quote from #13 on this thread. Later, on in #19, you'd seen that I had apologized for posting that BMS info and that had since found yet another outside source that seemed to, in fact, contradict my earlier post. (Unfortunately, I didn't save that doc.)
I guess, if anything, my takeaway from all this is that it's pretty easy to find online docs that support conflicting 'truths'. (note to self... be careful on trusting anything provided by an AI app.) But, the real-life examples posted by members of this forum are invaluable in navigating the pitfalls in keeping my well-loved F-Type running at capacity.
Since a post I made was quoted in this latest upwelling of this apparently undying issue, I feel a need to defend myself. Don't mean to step on anybody's toes, and I certainly don't intend to trigger an argument, but...
At issue then was how to attach a CTek battery maintainer on a permanent basis. Prevailing forum consensus at the time was in the trunk/boot and not the hood/bonnet. Various ways were suggested, with the important factor being to install the positive lead to the buss bar and not directly to the battery post.
My own researches prior to installing my own CTek two years before this thread started, found corroborative documentation in the JLR instructions for installing a Battery Charging kit on an F-Type. Jaguar, like many other manufacturers, offered a brand-labeled CTek battery maintainer as an accessory, and this doc was provided with that accessory. --- See the attached file. Note that this doc is marked as for the MY 2013 model, which would have had the second battery. While there doesn't seem to be an updated instructed doc for my MY 2021, my guess is that there would seem no need to develop one.
Ramart, you had extracted my quote from #13 on this thread. Later, on in #19, you'd seen that I had apologized for posting that BMS info and that had since found yet another outside source that seemed to, in fact, contradict my earlier post. (Unfortunately, I didn't save that doc.)
I guess, if anything, my takeaway from all this is that it's pretty easy to find online docs that support conflicting 'truths'. (note to self... be careful on trusting anything provided by an AI app.) But, the real-life examples posted by members of this forum are invaluable in navigating the pitfalls in keeping my well-loved F-Type running at capacity.
Thank you.... you know who you are.
Steps 6 and 7 are how I hooked up my CTEK - easy and have never had a problem.
... the important factor being to install the positive lead to the buss bar and not directly to the battery post.
.
I think the important factor is not to connect to the negative battery post, but to the earth point that terminal's lead is attached to, thus including the BMS in the circuit.
I think the important factor is not to connect to the negative battery post, but to the earth point that terminal's lead is attached to, thus including the BMS in the circuit.
This is correct. I have my positive lead is going to the positive battery terminal but the ground lead is attached to a chassis ground in order to keep the BMS in the circuit. No issues wiring it this way.
