2 Tesla Charging setup

[timp123]

What about changing the NEMA 14-50 to a pair of 6-20 outlets? This would require minimal additional wiring and you could keep the same circuit breaker. The downside is that each charger would be limited to 20a.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for even mentioning this option, but you could alternatively get a 14-50 splitter like this. You would need to dial each car's charging down to <25a, and also downsize your circuit breaker for safety. Once you select a max charging current, your car will remember it until you change it. This would work in theory, but not recommended for liability reasons. If a fire starts for any reason, you could be blamed for improperly loading the circuit.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

What about changing the NEMA 14-50 to a pair of 6-20 outlets? This would require minimal additional wiring and you could keep the same circuit breaker. The downside is that each charger would be limited to 20a.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for even mentioning this option, but you could alternatively get a 14-50 splitter like this. You would need to dial each car's charging down to <25a, and also downsize your circuit breaker for safety. Once you select a max charging current, your car will remember it until you change it. This would work in theory, but not recommended for liability reasons. If a fire starts for any reason, you could be blamed for improperly loading the circuit.

Also against code and voids your insurance if something happens that's not even related to the cars.

 

[ibdb]

We have two Model 3’s and find that having one HPWC is more than enough. It’s rare that we both need to charge at the same time so we just always have one plugged in at night, usually alternating between the two. If the second one really needs a charge I just plug it in when I wake up.

We have an S and a 3. For the last 18 months, we've shared one 14-50 outlet and never had an issue. Plug-in one car when it arrives home, switch over to the other before bed (if necessary). Unless you drive each car a significant portion of its range every day, I don't think it requires some of the solutions being put out here that are designed to game the system somehow by doing something the wiring isn't designed to support.

 

[Zaxxon]

We have an S and a 3. For the last 18 months, we've shared one 14-50 outlet and never had an issue. Plug-in one car when it arrives home, switch over to the other before bed (if necessary). Unless you drive each car a significant portion of its range every day, I don't think it requires some of the solutions being put out here that are designed to game the system somehow by doing something the wiring isn't designed to support.

To be clear, 2 HPWC is not 'gaming the system,' so I'll assume you were talking about the splitter option, which I agree is a crazy solution. I also agree that most of the time it's totally fine to have one solid 240V option alongside a 120V if both cars are not driven a ton daily, as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

As a counter-example, though, we've had a bunch of snow and cold this week, and found both our 3 and our X coming home with low range yesterday. We're also on a time-of-use rate plan, so we keep our charge hours between 9 PM and 9 AM. Last night we used 119 kWh per TeslaFi, taking our 60A circuit from 9 PM to 7:22 AM to complete. There's certainly some value in just not having to worry about it--plug em both in, and in the morning they're both charged up.

 

[ibdb]

If you have a time-of-use rate plan, that could definitely affect the calculus. We have never had to worry about that.

I think that having two EVs to charge is a little like people with range anxiety before purchasing and driving their first EV. With some planning and experience, much of the anxiety goes away. There are absolutely use cases where having two chargers available is essential. There are also use cases where that's overkill and not worth the added costs. Only the individual can know for sure how much charging they will actually require. My point is to remind people that having two EVs does not mean that you MUST have two chargers.

 

[Rocky_H]

Im about to be in the same position as the OP. Yes we have the money for two Tesla payments but it seems like buying two HPWC’s plus install can’t be the only option here...that’s like a $1000+ option.

Yeah, understandable. The $1,000 option gets under my skin some too.

Does the aftermarket not have a single charger with dual cables?

Ha! Well yes, they certainly exist, but you're not going to like it. You can Google around to find them: $2,000 and up.

For you and @mazers I do have my recommendation. Because for one, that $1,000 plus installation is not cheap. And for two, it's not even workable right now, since Tesla made the asinine decision to discontinue the version 2 wall connector that had sharing and sell only the new version 3 wall connector, which doesn't have sharing implemented yet! I have some not nice words for them about that, but it would get my comment removed to the "snippiness" penalty box.

So, since you already have a legitimate 240V 50A circuit to the garage, you can interrupt that line with a small subpanel and split it into a 20A circuit and a 30A circuit and then run those to outlets on each side of your garage. That is fully code compliant. I would find that more convenient than trying to do any car swapping or cord shuffling. You've got all night to charge, so they should be fine, and being able to just plug them both in and not worry about it would be more peaceful to me than having to keep in mind about which car and which driving is going to be OK with using the painfully slow 120V outlet on one side.

 

[Matsayz]

Yeah, understandable. The $1,000 option gets under my skin some too.


Ha! Well yes, they certainly exist, but you're not going to like it. You can Google around to find them: $2,000 and up.

For you and @mazers I do have my recommendation. Because for one, that $1,000 plus installation is not cheap. And for two, it's not even workable right now, since Tesla made the asinine decision to discontinue the version 2 wall connector that had sharing and sell only the new version 3 wall connector, which doesn't have sharing implemented yet! I have some not nice words for them about that, but it would get my comment removed to the "snippiness" penalty box.

So, since you already have a legitimate 240V 50A circuit to the garage, you can interrupt that line with a small subpanel and split it into a 20A circuit and a 30A circuit and then run those to outlets on each side of your garage. That is fully code compliant. I would find that more convenient than trying to do any car swapping or cord shuffling. You've got all night to charge, so they should be fine, and being able to just plug them both in and not worry about it would be more peaceful to me than having to keep in mind about which car and which driving is going to be OK with using the painfully slow 120V outlet on one side.

I need to have the electrician come back out soon as we re-up on our lease (we rent). I might just pay for him to put another 240V via conduit on the other side, STILL cheaper than a HWPC and install.

Thank you for the info!

 

[XLR82XS]

How many amp service do you have? I have two 14-50 outlets I installed for 2 Tesla's. I have 200 amp service. Worked out very well.

That's the way to go.

 

[pb2000]

You could take out the 14-50r and add a small sub panel in it's place wired to two plugs. Depending on the wire gauge feeding the 14-50r, you could do 20A +30A (#8Cu 90C) or 40A+30A (#6Cu 90C). In either case, you also need to check the main breaker on your service entrance panel and do load calculations to make sure you're not overloaded.

 

[jstjohnz]

I'm thinking of using the 14-50 on the car that travels the most distance on a daily basis and probably a 110 outlet on the one that doesn't. Weekends, would use the 14-50 on either. Maybe until the Gen 3 connectors figure out how to load balance that is. I see that the original Nema plug is installed with a 50 amp breaker.

Since your breaker panel is very close to where you need the power it should be pretty inexpensive to add a new 240V 20A receptacle to plug the 2nd cars UMC into. Should give you roughly 10 miles per hour of charge. 30A 240V receptacle would give you 3/4 of what you get from your 14-50.

 

[mazers]

Since your breaker panel is very close to where you need the power it should be pretty inexpensive to add a new 240V 20A receptacle to plug the 2nd cars UMC into. Should give you roughly 10 miles per hour of charge. 30A 240V receptacle would give you 3/4 of what you get from your 14-50.

My panel is a long way from my garage, other side of the house of course. I'm just using the NEMA 14-50 and it is working out just fine. Can plug in one car to start at 11:00pm and then the other, if it needs it, at 6:00 am. Weekend rates are the same as overnight (very inexpensive) and we have not had any problems.