Cigarette Lighter Receptacle - Use As An Electrical Outlet

Use As An Electrical Outlet

In newer cars, the socket often ships with a plastic dummy plug, without the lighter heating element due to declining popularity of smoking. However, the socket continues to exist to power consumer electronics in cars as the primary purpose. Often, a vehicle may come with several outlets for convenience, some in the rear passenger area of the vehicle. Even the cargo area may be supplied with sockets for such purposes as powering portable GPS devices, recharging telephones, or powering a tire pump, a vacuum cleaner or a cooler. These usually have a plastic cap tethered to them, and are usually labeled as being only for DC power since they are not intended to withstand the heat produced by an electric cigarette lighter.

Twelve volt automobile plugs are standardized in the United States by UL Standard 2089 regarding vehicle battery adapters. This standard covers plugs and cord sets that insert into cigarette lighter receptacles. In Europe, 12 volt plugs and sockets are not specially regulated and do not require approvals for CE mark.

USB standard 5-volt outlets are offered in tandem with cigar lighter outlets in newer vehicles. The cigar lighter outlet has even enjoyed some popularity outside of automobiles, such as boats, and even non-vehicular applications on AC adapters that convert to 12 volt DC.

The male end is sometimes used to feed power into a vehicle to recharge a battery.