An automatic reeling mechanism for an electric vehicle or a charging post can automatically reel a charging cable and thus protect it against dirt and weather. In order to reduce mechanical loads and damage to the plug and minimize a risk for stumbling to a person, the automatic reeling mechanism is switched in a passive mode as long as a plug of the charging cable is plugged in and is not touched by a person. This is the case during the charging process. In this way, the automatic reeling mechanism can be comfortably used because no traction forces are active during the charging process and the charging cable can be laid out so that there is no risk of stumbling.