Yeah, I'm an idiot sometimes, but seems this thing is pretty much idiot proof. LOL I plugged and unplugged in all sorts of scenarios and it has always been fine. And yes, it DOES charge while car is on. In fact, it says in the manual you can set a schedule to start the car and run AC/Heat, etc. to make it comfy while it's still on the charger. I think it's a rather cool function of the Fusion!