Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Why the Dual Charger option is a good thing to have

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
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.
 
Hmm...I never thought about the advantage of dual chargers when charging at a Tesla store. I haven't needed to charge anywhere other than home yet, but I actually have a couple of trips planned where a Tesla store was going to be my charging stop.
 
The main reason to get it is really - we don't know what the charging infrastructure is going to be over the life of a car which is purchased today.

As the retrofit is about 2.5x the factory price, it's a cheap "insurance" to have that option.

ChaDeMo and superchargers won't care if you have single or dual - but those are still scarce. My prediction is that a lot of malls, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and so on, eventually will offer charging, possibly even discounted or even free. Having dual chargers would possibly mean you could be much more flexible in your trip planning - especially for the shorter stops like shopping and dining - whereas overnighting is less crucial for charging speed.

There have already been many tales along the lines of "I could have saved several hours if I had had the dual chargers". Especially those markets where a great deal of owners don't control their home parking spot - I would call it a no-brainer, just get it. If you never do road trips and always or almost are home at night, and you have a charger at home, then it's probably just as much a no-brainer not to get dual chargers.

If I were to order again, 85kWh and dual chargers would be the default choices, followed by tech package, sunroof and if I could have gotten it, rear facing seats (not allowed in Hong Kong!)
 
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.

Of course, your car can be charged on a HPWC with a single charger -- just at the slower rate.

Whether to take the dual charger option (bundled with HPWC, at the time) was one that I struggled with a lot, but it finally came down to the likelihood that high-amp chargers wouldn't be a major factor for me for at least a couple of years (my house wiring would have required a major upgrade to support a HPWC, even at < 80 amps). Basically, a decision between $1500 for (probably) underutilized hardware today vs. $3-4000 someday to install the second charger if the charging infrastructure improves.
 
Of course, your car can be charged on a HPWC with a single charger -- just at the slower rate.

Whether to take the dual charger option (bundled with HPWC, at the time) was one that I struggled with a lot, but it finally came down to the likelihood that high-amp chargers wouldn't be a major factor for me for at least a couple of years (my house wiring would have required a major upgrade to support a HPWC, even at < 80 amps). Basically, a decision between $1500 for (probably) underutilized hardware today vs. $3-4000 someday to install the second charger if the charging infrastructure improves.

Yes, I'm in a similar situation. Most homes built in the past decade have a 200A service. The odds of having a spare 100A (recommended when using a HPWC at 80A) are slim, especially if you have central AC, an electric dryer, and an electric oven.

It made no sense to me that Tesla had the HPWC and Dual Charger options bundled together for a while. I believe they recently changed it partly on my suggestion to ownership.
 
Are the HPWC chargers at most Tesla stores or service centers available after hours? It seems like having dual chargers and being able to access these HPWCs would be a good alternative to charging at destination cities that don't have a supercharger within the city but you want to be able to drive cross country to the destination city AND then charge up and drive around within the city.
 
Are the HPWC chargers at most Tesla stores or service centers available after hours? It seems like having dual chargers and being able to access these HPWCs would be a good alternative to charging at destination cities that don't have a supercharger within the city but you want to be able to drive cross country to the destination city AND then charge up and drive around within the city.

Typically, yes, at least for stores. I've heard of a few stores not allowing public use, but I think those may be in areas where locals were abusing them...

Of course, depending on store needs, they may have their show cars plugged in there...
 
Are the HPWC chargers at most Tesla stores or service centers available after hours? It seems like having dual chargers and being able to access these HPWCs would be a good alternative to charging at destination cities that don't have a supercharger within the city but you want to be able to drive cross country to the destination city AND then charge up and drive around within the city.

That is a very good question. The policy may vary by location, but the Tesla store in Natick MA does leave its HPWC's and NEMA 14-50's powered up at night. There is always a chance that the HPWC's may be plugged into the demo vehicles for the night, so it's always a good idea to call the store during business hours to let them know that you'll be coming in to charge. Service centers usually have their HPWC's located inside, so they would not be available at night. But there may be exceptions.
 
Last edited:
If I knew that San Rafael would have had a service center(w/ HPWC's) so soon after I got my car I might have got the 2nd charger but I think it was bundled when I bought my car. It could have saved us 20-30 hours of charging so far but the places we stop are much nicer than the Service center area of San Rafael

and I think most service centers (maybe not all, but all I've seen) have HPWC, 14-50, or J1772 open 24-7. not sure about the factory, think it is locked after hours but the SC is there.
I know I was told San Rafael is open 24-7 for charging
 
(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?)

Can't forget the circumstances where you AREN'T charging at night. For example, went to work, did some running around, came home, and needed to leave out for a longer journey in around an hour. Adding 60 miles in that time is better than 30 miles.

Honestly, it's like the 85 vs 60kwh battery debate to me. If you can afford it, why not? I'd rather not be hamstrung personally.
 
ChaDeMo and superchargers won't care if you have single or dual - but those are still scarce. My prediction is that a lot of malls, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and so on, eventually will offer charging, possibly even discounted or even free.

IMHO, if you want to see this level of adoption of high amperage charging stations, TM will need to have a better incentive program. If an outlet agrees to install a charger and make it public access, Tesla ought to pay for the charger and installation.

Their current incentive, IIRC, is buy one get one free and that just ain't gonna cut it.
 
Yes, I'm in a similar situation. Most homes built in the past decade have a 200A service. The odds of having a spare 100A (recommended when using a HPWC at 80A) are slim, especially if you have central AC, an electric dryer, and an electric oven.

It made no sense to me that Tesla had the HPWC and Dual Charger options bundled together for a while. I believe they recently changed it partly on my suggestion to ownership.

Others know far more about electricity than I, but since I have been working on the electrical install piece recently, I don't think the 200 amp situation is quite on point. It is possible to have the 100 amp breaker for the HPWC and all the other items you describe. The real issue is likely load. It's not likely that a continuous draw of more than 200 amps would happen -- thereby tripping at least one breaker. Based on what I have read here, many people have 200 amp service but still have an HPWC and plenty of other big electric draws like AC, ovens, etc.

I do agree that dual chargers are relatively cheap insurance so I ordered them and wall connector (what the heck!).
 
I have contacted some businesses in northeast MN, which have in-turn contacted Tesla about getting HPWC's. Tesla offered them half off, which I think is a fair deal.

Being able to charge at 80 amps would make these much more useable because of the geography (just short of the the literal end of the road) and the common travel destination (literally the end of the road) which has no electricity.

You could stop for an hour to have lunch before going in to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, an hour on your way out, and have put 120 miles into the battery.

I do agree with others that high power level 2's will be more common in the future, and possibly free. Even if you have all the range you need, you could top off your batteries for free while you eat, watch a movie, grocery shop etc.

As you might guess, I went with dual chargers. I'll can't wait for, "September" which will come much earlier than, "Late September!"
 
Can't forget the circumstances where you AREN'T charging at night. For example, went to work, did some running around, came home, and needed to leave out for a longer journey in around an hour. Adding 60 miles in that time is better than 30 miles.

Honestly, it's like the 85 vs 60kwh battery debate to me. If you can afford it, why not? I'd rather not be hamstrung personally.
Absolutely, I encounter just this sort of situation on a fairly regular (every 2-3 months) basis. I go to work, run kids around, then need to leave for a 200 mile trip for a track meet or a meeting in one of the surrounding metropolitan areas. City folk that never drive those sorts of distances may not need it, and you probably have superchargers available anyway. But for us country folk living in rural areas that are still 400+ miles from the nearest supercharger having the option of charging at 80 amps at home and at other people's homes who are willing to allow other Tesla owners to use their charging, it is a huge time saver.
 
I'm hoping that all of us that have HPWC's installed at our homes make sure that they are made available to others and shown on PlugShare. I've done that for the one in my garage and the one that my son and I installed at his house in Spokane (about 280 miles away). Looks like it would solve a lot of the destination charging concerns if did this. I'm looking to hosting other tesla owners.
 
I'm hoping that all of us that have HPWC's installed at our homes make sure that they are made available to others and shown on PlugShare. I've done that for the one in my garage and the one that my son and I installed at his house in Spokane (about 280 miles away). Looks like it would solve a lot of the destination charging concerns if did this. I'm looking to hosting other tesla owners.

I'm driving to Columbia, MO this weekend (around 190 miles from home) and am having to take my Prius b/c I can't find any sort of rapid charging option in the area--a couple J1772s, but that's not gonna cut it as I have to be home in time to work a night shift. I suspect there is a Tesla owner or two in Columbia (big college town with some $$), but there's not a thing listed on PlugShare.
 
I'm hoping that all of us that have HPWC's installed at our homes make sure that they are made available to others and shown on PlugShare. I've done that for the one in my garage and the one that my son and I installed at his house in Spokane (about 280 miles away). Looks like it would solve a lot of the destination charging concerns if did this. I'm looking to hosting other tesla owners.

No dual chargers (I only have a 150A feed to my house, using 2/3 of it to charge my car isn't really prudent). But do have my 60A and 40A Clipper Creek J1772 listed on plug share as well as my Tesla adapter.