Why the Dual Charger option is a good thing to have

[ThosEM]

The only thing I've seen that has given me regrets is that the Canadian Sun Country network uses high power AC charging all across the trans-Canadian highway. On the other hand, recent reports in the forums here suggest that these charging stations are in a state of disarray: turned off frequently with no staffing to turn them back on, or otherwise compromised by ICEing and other issues. Moreover, many of the sites that claim even 40A/10kW charging actually operate substantially lower than that. So perhaps it's a wash for now.

For me, the charging world seems to divide cleanly along lines of "on the road" or "overnight", the former implying supercharging and the latter implying 10 kW charging that will fill even a Tesla in the time it takes to sleep off a long drive.

I'm still agonizing about whether I would buy a CHAdeMO adapter if one were available at some ridiculous price, and hoping that Nissan, BMW, and Tesla will reach an agreement to populate all chargers with a set of adapters to fit most vehicles.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I couldn't justify the price of the dual chargers given my usage. I'm either going to charge overnight, or want it charged immediately while on a trip. In the former case, pretty much any 240V+ solution will work, in the latter not even an 80A HPWC is going to cut it. Indeed, I'm at 7k miles now with multiple road trips, and could not have conveniently taken advantage of (let alone needed) an 80A charger even a single time.

Given how rare 80A stations are even in California, the growth of DC fast charging, and lack of growth in 80A L2 charging, I decided against it. I might get CHAdeMO/SCC adaptors if/when they're available, but couldn't justify another AC charger. I felt the money for the second charger would be much better spent on fast charging adapters at a later date.

Our Canadian owners may see significant benefit, though. You need to see what will work for your individual situation, there's no one answer.

 

[jcaspar]

+1 here. Seems too slow for road trips and unnecessarily fast for overnight charging. Faster charging at a Tesla store would help but not sure I will ever rely on that for a trip. I have never seen a 240v charger over 40A here in CA, with the exception of HPWC at Tesla service centers.

I couldn't justify the price of the dual chargers given my usage. I'm either going to charge overnight, or want it charged immediately while on a trip. In the former case, pretty much any 240V+ solution will work, in the latter not even an 80A HPWC is going to cut it. Indeed, I'm at 7k miles now with multiple road trips, and could not have conveniently taken advantage of (let alone needed) an 80A charger even a single time.

Given how rare 80A stations are even in California, the growth of DC fast charging, and lack of growth in 80A L2 charging, I decided against it. I might get CHAdeMO/SCC adaptors if/when they're available, but couldn't justify another AC charger. I felt the money for the second charger would be much better spent on fast charging adapters at a later date.

Our Canadian owners may see significant benefit, though. You need to see what will work for your individual situation, there's no one answer.

 

[jyc]

Thought long about the dual chargers when we initially ordered the car, but realized that we'd almost never use them and didn't bother getting them. Since fast DC charging bypasses the onboard chargers anyway, it didn't seem necessary. With the push both by Tesla and other manufacturers for fast DC charging, it seems like spending the $ for the upcoming adapter would be more useful than a second charger. Nearly 24k miles later, no regrets on building with a single-charger, since we haven't driven by a single high-amperage J1772 charger yet and it's hard to argue that the (paper) profit on an additional $1,500 in TSLA stock instead hasn't been good.

Other than the HPWC at a service center, the majority of public chargers in the area where we would travel are 30A or lower (since Blink dropped their amperage to 24A). With such slow public AC charging, we wouldn't even max out a single charger, much less dual chargers.

Since our long-distance travel is essentially covered by Superchargers combined with the lack of >40A service, our use for dual chargers was such a distant edge-case that it didn't make sense to buy a second charger over more stock.

Dual chargers certainly can make sense in the right use-cases or if it makes the owner more comfortable having it, but it isn't totally necessary for everyone. When people ask about how they should configure their car, I usually talk to them about their expected use cases and pull up PlugShare in the areas they travel to see if there are useful public high-amp chargers. Unfortunately, that takes a bit of clicking around, since it's not organized by high and low amperage J1772, but it's usually not difficult given that there are only so many chargers to check anway. If budget is tight and they won't likely get much use from dual-chargers, I don't usually recommend them and instead recommend other options that they will use more frequently.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

I guess it depends on where you live and your lifestyle. I've had my twin charger Model S for about 20,000 miles and never once used twin chargers and only once did I need a Nema 14-50 or Level 2 to charge faster than a single charger. I live in the city so I never drive over 200 miles in a day unless I'm on a road trip, which is rare. And on 3 road trips I've used the ever-expanding supercharger network plus Level 2 at night.

A HPWC may have been used to charge your car at your local service center without you realizing it. Plus, Tesla has started a campaign to install HPWC's at hotels and resorts around the country. If you take your car outside CA, you may indeed find this useful.

 

[wycolo]

Even if you 'never' use the second charger, rest assured that you are indeed carrying around an extra part with the same part number. So if your original fails you can switch their locations and be back to normal. But now limited to 40 amps max.
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[Tacket]

Even if you 'never' use the second charger, rest assured that you are indeed carrying around an extra part with the same part number. So if your original fails you can switch their locations and be back to normal. But now limited to 40 amps max.
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Excellent point!

 

[Evbwcaer]

I chose to build my S with Dual Chargers. My main reason is that I take camping trip to northeastern Minnesota where the car is parked for days and not plugged in. There is going to be a Supercharger in Duluth, MN...2015

If all conditions are perfect, an 85 could make it from the Duluth Supercharger, to the wilderness, and back. There are almost never perfect conditions in Minnesota, and add vampire losses to that.

I have been working to get some destinations in the smaller town between Duluth (Ely, Grand Marais, Virginia) and the wilderness area to install HPWC's, and it has been great working with Telsa on this.

In this scenario you could each lunch before going into the wilderness, and stop to eat or shower when getting out. Stopped for a total of 2 hours, +115 miles in the battery and you are sitting pretty in terms of making back to the Supercharger even at -30f. Or stay overnight at the edge of the wilderness area and be full.

I believe that when the Model 3 hits your are going to see a lot of HPWC's out in the wild. Restaurants, movie theaters, malls, and in small towns that are in gaps in the Supercharger network.

 

[markb1]

Even if you 'never' use the second charger, rest assured that you are indeed carrying around an extra part with the same part number. So if your original fails you can switch their locations and be back to normal. But now limited to 40 amps max.
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Interesting point. But is that cheaper than paying Tesla for a new charger plus labor? We know what Tesla charges for the upgrade after delivery, but not the labor costs of doing the swap. With the $1500 up front cost included, it might not be cheaper.

In my case, I have the extended warranty, which will last 8 years with my current driving habits, and I may not keep the car after that.

 

[wycolo]

An easy DIY: Need 4 hemostats for the coolant loop hoses and the rest is replug and mount. After you remove the seat bottom, that is! THIS could be easy or hard depending on your luck and/or resolve.

You are correct; better to keep both chargers functioning since our Patron Saint could decree one fine day: "Superchargers are not enough - a Public HPC for every Village!!"
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[jerry33]

Even if you 'never' use the second charger, rest assured that you are indeed carrying around an extra part with the same part number. So if your original fails you can switch their locations and be back to normal. But now limited to 40 amps max.
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Unfortunately, there is more than just switching locations. That second charger would also have to be reprogrammed to be the master charger. I suppose if there was a shortage of spares, the Service Centre could do that, but so far I don't think there has been any shortage.

 

[Pilot_51]

Even if you 'never' use the second charger, rest assured that you are indeed carrying around an extra part with the same part number. So if your original fails you can switch their locations and be back to normal. But now limited to 40 amps max.
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The charger should be covered under warranty. Whether you have the second charger or not, you probably can't charge with AC anyway until the SC fixes it, that is unless there's a built-in fallback to the other charger. How many have failed already? It seems like such an edge case that it's not worth the $1500.

 

[tliving]

Tesla recently unbundled the High Power Wall Connector and Dual Charger options. This has left many customers wondering why they would need the Dual Charger option. There are a couple of reasons why the Dual Charger option is a good thing to have.

• If you install a High Power Wall Connector and wish to get the full 80A capacity out of it, you will need dual chargers. (However, for home charging I believe the HPWC is overkill. If you charge at night, why should it matter if it takes 3 hours or 6 hours to charge your car?)

• Dual chargers do come into their own on other occasions, however. On several occasions I have charged at a Tesla store, using their HPWC. This option saved me hours of waiting compared to using a generic 30A ChargePoint. Likewise, when your car is at a Tesla service center, your car can be charged on a HPWC while being serviced, increasing the likelihood that your car will be fully replenished when you pick it up.

NOTE: Dual Chargers are not necessary for supercharging.

I have to agree that having dual chargers is a good idea. While they can be added later, they're a lot more expensive after delivery. When you're traveling and need to charge somewhere other than a Supercharger charging at max rate is going to save you time. More on this here:

Charger Confusion | Tesla Living

 

[wycolo]

unless there's a built-in fallback to the other charger.

Either built-in or reprogrammable remotely would be nice. Then their physical locations would not matter.

Indeed, carrying a spare charger is not enough reason to originally spring for the twins option.
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[andrewket]

Even if you 'never' use the second charger, rest assured that you are indeed carrying around an extra part with the same part number. So if your original fails you can switch their locations and be back to normal. But now limited to 40 amps max.
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Doesn't quite work that way. The chargers have to be programmed master and slave. A slave in the master position won't work without reprogramming.

 

[Jaff]

The only thing I've seen that has given me regrets is that the Canadian Sun Country network uses high power AC charging all across the trans-Canadian highway. On the other hand, recent reports in the forums here suggest that these charging stations are in a state of disarray...

I guess it depends on where you are located, but I don't agree with this statement at all...I drove on a 3,500 km trip last fall from Ontario to P.E.I. and found only 2 charge stations that were off line (I stopped at 72 charge stations)...I have been browsing the Sun Country map over the weekend and for roughly the same trip, there appear to be only 2 stations off line (different ones from last year)...in addition, in 3.5 years and almost 80,000 electric kms, I have never been iced.

Sun Country's high power Level II charge network is very important to Canadian EVers...remember Canada is a big place and it will take years (even if / with participation in Level III charging from BMW & Nissan) to cover off all of our country with Level III charging...until then, dual chargers on board are a must have...