Need help with rodent chewing charging cord

What about something like this
https://www.homedepot.com/p/E-O-2-in-x-15-ft-Foam-and-Foil-Pipe-Wrap-Insulation-Tape-FV15H/100174724?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal2_rr-_-100585113-_-100174724-_-N

Or this
https://www.google.com/search?q=af-Seal-Pipe-Wrap-Insulation-HST07812%2F100585113&oq=af-Seal-Pipe-Wrap-Insulation-HST07812%2F100585113&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i58.8236j0j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

 

Way to think outside the box! If them critters like something hard to keep their teeth short, then give them something soft.
It will be interesting to see what works. Maybe we should take up a collection for @KentJohnson’s science fair project. Or at least come up with some good titles for it.

 

Start feeding a stray cat?

 

I have lots of experience in this, living next to a forest. A new vehicle I bought a few years back, a Nissan,(not a ev), I had to unload due to issues and evidence of rodent habitation. They essentially would not cover the warranty issues with evidence of that. Next a Subaru hybrid, with again rodent habitation. Now I am in a kia Niro plug in, and have bought a sonic repeller which seems to work. It discourages habitation however, not stops it entirely, nor immediately. I use it on the Subaru before I sold it about 6 months and it seems to work. They tend to not like the sound. The repeller connects to the battery, and uses a very tiny bit of electricity. My only caution is to buy a better quality one, there are bunches out there. And it takes a while till they leave. The cable is a problem but imagine they get into the car wiring, and if it is not covered in the warranty,(likely it is not) that is a way bigger problem. If they are eating the cable, they can get into the engine as well. They nest in things like airfilters and clog them up. Just for the cable I would buy the tape they sell. Honda has one, I think, others have mentioned. Till the tape comes in, if you don't mind the mess, sprinkle red chili powder, the hot kind, on the cable. They hate hot chili. Traps all that, only work for individual rodents, and they will then come back or new ones replace them caught. It really is not a permanent solution. Other rodents smell those who visit a area in the past and then consider it safe, so they visit as well. They are crazy about salt. Just a guess, but if your cable has exposure to road salt, that may be the half of it.

 

I am unfortunately dubious about all of these repellent ideas. However I suspect the cable is a target of opportunity because it is lying on the ground. Consider hooks such that it can be coiled to be shorter, and when plugged into the car it stays in the air rather than draping on the ground.


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Squirrels been known to chew on engine bay wires in my area. Happened to two of my neighbors but not others. One of them spent thousands on multiple repairs. He works nights and his truck is parked in the street during the day.

 

I wanted to add I had a backpack I use while jogging, with salt from sweating on it... lasted intact in the carport about two days before the rodents ate it away(the straps). I would not use poisons if at all possible. A coyote owl or cat eats the dying or dead rodent and they likely die as well. And they crawl up and die in walls and such places leaving quite a smell.
I have trapped hundreds over the years by my guess, some of the killer kind. It never worked they just keep a comin. Not killed they say they find their way back, they work on smell and can smell their way home.
Coyote urine, things like that can be purchased as well, but I don't know if one wants that around. Cats work but only really if they live/sleep in the area of the rodents. Otherwise their kills are to sporadic to keep all away.
Some of the repellers can be quite noisy. One I have from Poland I use on my wood shed, a portable that works on battery(quite expensive that one). I could not have around my house, it is simply to loud.Some say there is hazard to humans from the noise. I have not found that but would not stay to close to one.
Key again is to give it time. With time they are bothered and leave. But hang in there for quite a while if the home is nice and warm and safe in rodent terms. Action time by my guess is a month or two.
Just my experience of course and thus of one. But every car I have owned in the last 15 years has been rodent infested, some in the engine, some in the car itself, here or there, air intake a favorite. Knock on wood, but so far with the repellers, nothing. ON the Subaru they were pulling away the hood insulation to use to make nests in surprisingly, my pick up truck parked ten feet away. Seemed to stop with the repellers. I do now use several for various locations. This is plague and hantavirus areas, I cannot play around, or loose value on my new vehicles. Simply cannot afford that warranty does not apply in New Mexico if the vehicle has rodent infestation. They will fight you on that.