Do people install 2 NEMA 14-50 outlets in one garage?

[Wildbill]

We have one Model 3 now, but my wife may be getting another Tesla, probably a Model Y. We are finally going to have an electrician come and install a NEMA 14-50 outlet (right now, I am still using the 110v outlet to charge). Our electrical panel can probably accommodate at most one NEMA 14-50, and we will just share the one outlet. Or would it be better to install to two NEMA 6-20 outlets so that both cars can charge at he same time?

What do most people do when they have 2 EV in the house?

Anyone installed 2 NEMA 14-50 outlets in one garage?

Anyone install one NEMA 14-50 plus one NEMA 6-20 outlet?

 

[TechVP]

I went full tilt and installed 2 (Gen 2) HPWC's, including a 100A Subpanel to support them. Through the communication bus, they intelligently share power with a theoretical maximum draw of approx 80A. Setup passed first inspection.

If you were on a budget (and most are, because 2 HPWC, wiring, conduit, plus the subpanel is not a trivial DYI project) I would add 2 NEMA 14-50's. On separate breakers.
-TechVP
Disclaimer: consult your local code before proceeding.

 

[GHammer]

It all depends on your budget and current infrastructure. In my case i have a 56 amp wall connector and 2- 40 amp wall connectors as well as a 10-30.

It's definately good to have a connection for each car. If you're budget limited it would also be good to have at least one be a 30 or 40 amp.

 

[jsmay311]

Two NEMA 6-20's would be far superior vs a single NEMA 14-50 for charging two vehicles.

Rarely do you *need* home charging faster than what a 6-20 outlet can provide (15mph). But if you end up trying to share a single 14-50 outlet between two EV's, that will pose repeated headaches / inconveniences.

If it were me, I'd just max out whatever amp capacity you have available without having to pay extra $$ to upgrade your panel. So if you have 50 amps to work with, get one 14-30 (or 10-30) and one 6-20, for example.

 

[MXLRplus]

The trick setup is to get twin Generation 2 HPWCs and 'marry' them so they can do load sharing in case Tesla increases the kW rating of the onboard charger past 48 amps, or you buy a used 'dual charger' MS or MX. Some of the older cars will charge at up to 80 amps, and Tesla might boost their cars again. A Gen3 HPWC won't go past 48 amps.

Personally I run a Gen2 HPWC + 2x J1772's on 3 circuits for the main garage.

 

[Vespa]

Sure, you can install multiple 14-50's. I have a 200A main with a 50A breaker feeding a subpanel containing (2) 50A breakers for 14-50's and a bunch of 20A breakers for general garage 110V outlets and lights. It's perfectly normal for the breakers in the panel to vastly exceed the capacity of the main.

There are lots of slim/combo breaker options to get more circuits into your full panel and your best option would be to simply squeeze in 2 more 50A breakers and make dual AWG6 runs to independent 14-50 outlets. But if you're genuinely at amperage capacity and can only add one 50A breaker you can run it to a garage subpanel that splits out to multiple 50A breakers going out to 14-50's, just don't charge both cars at the same time. Or install one 14-50 and use a load-sharing switch like the Dryer Buddy. Or hard-wire multiple wall chargers and let them manage the load sharing automatically.

Or if you're really lazy you can run one 50A circuit to a small subpanel that breaks out to 2 14-50's and then just set both cars to 20A charge rates so you don't have to worry about tripping breakers if you charge them both at the same time. 20A thru a 14-50 will still be about 3X faster than the 110V you're using now.

 

[cwerdna]

Another possibility is the dual EVSEs that Clipper Creek sells like at Search - dual Examples include the HCS-D40P. They have versions with 14-50 or 6-50 plugs or hardwired.

Do be careful about the model # vs. the max output amperage. Example HCS-D50P Plug-in Dual Charging Station, Level 2, 240V, NEMA 14-50 is actually 40 amp max output but the 50 refers to needing a 50 amp circuit.

 

[Big Earl]

We have two gen 2 wall connectors sharing a 50 amp circuit. One car can charge at 40 amps or both can charge at 20 amps each. When one car finishes, the second car ramps back up to full power. The only thing that would make it better is a larger circuit.

 

[arnolddeleon]

We have one Model 3 now, but my wife may be getting another Tesla, probably a Model Y. We are finally going to have an electrician come and install a NEMA 14-50 outlet (right now, I am still using the 110v outlet to charge). Our electrical panel can probably accommodate at most one NEMA 14-50, and we will just share the one outlet. Or would it be better to install to two NEMA 6-20 outlets so that both cars can charge at he same time?

What do most people do when they have 2 EV in the house?

Anyone installed 2 NEMA 14-50 outlets in one garage?

Anyone install one NEMA 14-50 plus one NEMA 6-20 outlet?

I suspect you are not going to get a "most people" answer in a forum like this.

We've been a two EV family for about 10 years (EV driving for 18). This year we finally became a two Tesla family. The two car garage has three J1772 EVSE stations (one hardwired, one on 6-50 on a third 14-50 with a 50A breaker). That's an artifact of the evolution of the cars in the fleet. Initially we had cars that charged from the front. When we got one charged at the rear, the 2012 RAV4-EV, I added the third location.

I recommend having two Level 2 positions available. However unless you drive a lot it is not strictly necessary. The Tesla Model 3 was our second car with rear charging port. With our driving patterns we didn't need to charge both cars every night. I found myself preferring the 3rd (convenient for rear) charging stations for both cars. There were a few times that I did plug in both cars, in that case I would use one of the front ones. So if your budget and electrical panels are limited a 14-50 and 6-20 is not a bad option.

I should add that I also installed a 20A 240V outlet outside. When I have projects taking up the garage I can park outside temporarily and still charge at a decent rate.

Others have given good advice as well. If I was starting from scratch today I would go down the two High Power Wall Connector (HPWC) route. If the main panel has the capacity each get its down dedicated circuit and if not they can be configured to load share. Someone commented that the Gen 3 ones are limited to 48A. I don't think this practically going to matter for you. You live the SF Bay Area, if you need to charge faster than that you will go to a Supercharger. 32A will fill a Model 3 or Y overnight under most circumstances.

 

[skgolf91]

Yes, it all depends how much you drives and how much you need charging. We now have 2 Teslas in one car garage. I just have the wall unit near the garage door so I can charge one in the garage and then the one in the driveway next if needed. We haven't run into any problems yet.

 

[SSedan]

There are some lack opinions of how this should be done.comapred to electrical code.
You should have an electrician out to see what capacity your panel has.
Load sharing wall connectors are made for this but it is the "premium" option.
The suggestion of 2 14-50s just set low is particularly bad. If you only have capacity for 50amps but want two connections you either use a load sharing option or two smaller outlets like a 14-30 and a 6-20.

People way over fixate on the 14-50, there are a handful of options adapter wise and the wall connectors have a bunch of amperage settings.

If you are getting by on a 5-15 and your wife's commuting pattern is similar to yours then dual 6-20s would work great. If you don't mind spending the money load sharing wall connectors would give you flexibility to charge a car quicker for instance when you get home low on charge from a road trip and have to commute in the morning.

 

[brkaus]

I have a single 50a wall connector to charge our model s, model 3, and leaf. No issues.

It depends on your driving needs and what is available for backup.

if you have a supercharger nearby, I would do 2 6-20 or 10-30.

otherwise, one 14-50 would be better because it would give quicker charge if ever needed.

 

[idoco]

We have an MS and MX. Each has a dedicated 14-50.

Electrical service is 400A (2 x 200A service panels). One 50A breaker is in one panel and one is in the other panel.

 

[garrett5688]

We share one 14-50 between our S and Y. The Y has a short commute, so it gets plugged in first in the evening, then the S charges while we sleep. The app notifications work great for this.

 

[mrau]

Two charging locations is the best way to go if you have two cars. Try to set it up so the outlets are close to your charge ports when parked and in a way that you won't be driving over each others cords. If both are Level 2 (240 volts) then you will have a much better EV experience. Get the highest amp that your electrical panel can handle for each outlet. No problem if that ends up being one 20 amp and one 30 amp.

My garage came with a 6-20 outlet, but it was on the wrong side of garage. I used it for a couple of months and had a full charge every morning. Later I added a 14-50 on the opposite wall and now use that. I still have a full charge every morning.

 

[phil4791eng]

I have one 14-50 and one 14-60.

 

[jaguar36]

We've had two Ss for 5 years now and have only one 14-50 and its never been a problem. Once or twice I've had to swap the plug between cars before bed, no big deal. I think installing two 14-50s would be a waste.

 

[SSedan]

We've had two Ss for 5 years now and have only one 14-50 and its never been a problem. Once or twice I've had to swap the plug between cars before bed, no big deal. I think installing two 14-50s would be a waste.

Buying 2 Teslas is a waste. What is a couple hundred dollars more to not have to worry about which car is plugged in when or swapping? I would be hard pressed to find a clearer example of penny wise and pound foolish.

 

[outdoors]

We've had two Ss for 5 years now and have only one 14-50 and its never been a problem. Once or twice I've had to swap the plug between cars before bed, no big deal. I think installing two 14-50s would be a waste.

As it has been said before a person's usage often dictates the need for multiple outlets. Most important thing is to do it all safely.

That being said we have a high usage scenario for our household. We had one outlet and tried to do time of use juggling two cars. Just required me to get up earlier in the morning than I wanted to and having to think about the charging more than I wanted to.

 

[brkaus]

Buying 2 Teslas is a waste. What is a couple hundred dollars more to not have to worry about which car is plugged in when or swapping? I would be hard pressed to find a clearer example of penny wise and pound foolish.

In my case -

1) It was a $14,000 upgrade to get more power out of my breaker box per several electricians. Including replacing the panel, trenching, new conduit to the transformer, replacing the concrete aggregate driveway.

2) I did buy a second Gun 2 WC to network when we got the second Tesla. But, honestly, I haven't needed it. So it sits in a box on a shelf in the garage. Someday if I actually need it, I'll spend the money.

It isn't always "just a couple hundred dollars more".