Is the dual charger option useful and worth getting?

[deonb]

I also live in Seattle (same as OP), and have had dual chargers for the last 3 years. Never used it apart from 1 try over at Tesla for testing to see if it works.

We have 10 times more Chademo and Superchargers around us in the Pacific North West as we do public locations that support dual chargers.

Based on that, I wouldn't recommend a dual charger to someone living in Seattle.

 

[redi]

If the master fails you are unable to charge with AC current. If the slave fails you are limited to 40 amps.

Yep, that's what I meant - slave can expire, thanks for the refresh.

 

[Super_Popular]

I went to the Space X launch

You can go to those?!?!?!

How cool was that?

 

[Lloyd]

Would have been cooler without the fog!! Saw about a dozen other Teslas there. We were close enough to feel the rumble, and noise, but the fog prevented seeing the launch this time. I'll do it again!!

 

[prcass]

I also live in Seattle (same as OP), and have had dual chargers for the last 3 years. Never used it apart from 1 try over at Tesla for testing to see if it works.

We have 10 times more Chademo and Superchargers around us in the Pacific North West as we do public locations that support dual chargers.

Based on that, I wouldn't recommend a dual charger to someone living in Seattle.

If, however, you wish to venture north of Seattle on a long distance drive to Canada, I highly recommend you get dual chargers. Superchargers are few and far between in BC and Alberta but there are several spots that have destination chargers.

 

[Cottonwood]

I also live in Seattle (same as OP), and have had dual chargers for the last 3 years. Never used it apart from 1 try over at Tesla for testing to see if it works.

We have 10 times more Chademo and Superchargers around us in the Pacific North West as we do public locations that support dual chargers.

Based on that, I wouldn't recommend a dual charger to someone living in Seattle.

From Sun Country Chargers, here are locations with J1772's that could use Dual Chargers near Seattle:

From the Tesla Find Us page, here are the locations of Destination Chargers near Seattle, most of which support Dual Chargers:

I think that there are plenty of places to use Dual Chargers near Seattle. This number is far more than 1/10 (and probably exceeds) the number of CHAdeMOs and Superchargers near Seattle, and open up some interesting routes and destinations.

 

[jcaspar]

I think the difference is need to use versus can use. I think for destination charging, if you are staying overnight, there is really no need for dual charging unless there is a high demand for the charger. Even then, few people are going to move their car out of the way in the middle of the night when done to allow someone else to charge. Mid trip, the dual charger is still far too slow. Who wants to wait 3 hours to get 180 mies. I guess if you have not other choice but I think at that point I would take an ICE vehicle.

 

[deonb]

From the Tesla Find Us page, here are the locations of Destination Chargers near Seattle, most of which support Dual Chargers:

And here are the ones that are actually open to the public:

 

[Cottonwood]

And here are the ones that are actually open to the public:

I admire your dedication to looking up each of those Destination Charging sites in the database.

My experience has been, that many sites that say of "for guests only," will let non-guest charge if you call and ask. In addition, I have found that most consider a client at the restaurant to be a guest and allow you to charge while having a meal, a perfect activity while putting 60-100 miles in the battery with my most useful dual chargers.

 

[deonb]

I admire your dedication to looking up each of those Destination Charging sites in the database.

I happened to need a charge over the weekend for a long trip around Vancouver neighborhoods that would have put me out of Supercharger range. So in planning, I went through all of the Tesla Destination chargers to try and find a public one in case I need one - so I still remembered the list. Also remember cursing Tesla ever so lightly for not giving an option to filter by public vs. private on either the site or in the car.

I had dogs in the car so wouldn't have been able to patronize whatever business the host thought I need to patronize for the privilege of using their Tesla-paid-for-HPWC.

Alas, I couldn't find any public HPWC's in the Vancouver metropolitan area, so I just threw caution into the wind and figured I'll be able to charge at one of the 6 public Chademo chargers in the city radius. Which I was - at BCIT.

 

[bob_p]

I've had my P85 for 3 years. For most of that time, I had an HPWC at home at 80A using both chargers, with several extended periods when I only had access to 40A using one charger.

For home use 40A and a single charger is probably all that most people need. The only time I've really needed to use the dual chargers at home was when I did a lot of driving during the day and needed to recharge to do more driving in the evening - which hasn't happened very often.

For trip use, we have found a destination charger at a nearby hotel when visiting family - and that charger runs at 64A with the dual chargers - and it has been useful to charge faster after we first arrive - and put on enough charge to drive around town in the evening.

For most people, purchasing the 2nd charger is probably more of a "range anxiety" solution - knowing that you have the ability to charge at up to 60 miles of range per hour, if and when you ever need that - but probably something that may never really be needed.

I also invested in a bag full of adapters - so I'd be ready to charge using dryer plugs - if I couldn't find a nearby charger. This was a much larger concern 3 years ago - but today with more superchargers and destination chargers, plus the commercial EV charging networks, I haven't had to use any of the adapters for a long time.

As for the HPWC, without the dual charger, the HPWC doesn't provide much benefit. It is a little more convenient to use than the standard charging cable - and looks nicer on the wall than having the heavy charging cable plugged into an outlet. But, without a dual charger, the HPWC won't provide any benefits for charging over the standard cable.

That said, if/when we purchase our next Tesla - we'll likely still purchase the dual charger option, though we'll probably plan to only have one HPWC - and use a 40A circuit to charge the 2nd vehicle.

 

[Chickenlittle]

I'm not sure if I should get the Duel Charger ($2000 including installation) put into my Model S given how I currently recharge and use the car.

I mainly recharge using my installed 240v wall plug in the garage. I rarely charge at public charging places. On occasion, when I go out of town, I do use the superchargers along the way (although I hear that the Duel Chargers do not affect the charging times of the supercharger).

I guess the ultimate question is where under what circumstances would the Duel Charger be useful, and worth getting?

Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

spongdds

It is useful to me because of more than one tesla, so both cars can share the same charger (of course one at a time). When I got the dual charger, I thought it would be good for destination charging but when I look up destination chargers on the map most limit the current so you cannot take full advantage

 

[DCGOO]

It is useful to me because of more than one tesla, so both cars can share the same charger (of course one at a time). When I got the dual charger, I thought it would be good for destination charging but when I look up destination chargers on the map most limit the current so you cannot take full advantage

Take the Tesla map with the proverbial grain of salt. I found many chargers marked as 64-amp on the map, and up being configured for and capable of 80. Even if not, 64 is more than 50% faster than 40.

 

[fredag]

Neither of those require, nor can use, dual chargers. At 6.6kw, Type 2 does not even fully use one charger.

What are you talking about?

Type2 charging stations can deliver up to 43kW AC. Type2 is the charging plug used in Europe, Australia, etc.

A Model S without dual chargers will only get 11kW, or 50km/h charging speed. That's painfully slow, like watching paint dry. For some people who like slow things and don't really value their time spent waiting for charging, that may be sufficient for their needs.

With dual chargers you get 22kW, or 100km/h charging speed.

For European Model S owners, I'd say dual chargers can be quite useful. Not so much for my daily driving, but for fast destination charging or charging on trips outside areas where chademo rapid chargers have been deployed.

 

[DCGOO]

What are you talking about?

Type2 charging stations can deliver up to 43kW AC. Type2 is the charging plug used in Europe, Australia, etc.

In the US (the OP was in the US), Level 2 is only 7 kw. Nearly useless for a Tesla, but by far the most common.

 

[liuping]

In the US (the OP was in the US), Level 2 is only 7 kw. Nearly useless for a Tesla, but by far the most common.

Most Level 2 EVSE chargers in the US are 7kW, but the spec is much higher and there are some out there.

I've used one that was 70Amps@ 208W, so 14.5kW. That was the only time in the wild where the dual chargers on my first Model S came in handy. All other times were at the Tesla Service center, since I don't have a HPWC at home.

I have not installed the second charger on my current Model S.

 

[Rocky_H]

I think people were just talking past each other a bit because of mixing up the two different terms: "type 2" and "level 2". Type 2 is a charging handle format used in Europe, I think also called Mennekes. That is what Tesla uses as their charging port format in the European Teslas and at their Superchargers. That Type 2 handle is capable of a broad range of power levels.

Level 2 is referring to the common categories of charging power levels 1, 2, and 3 for low level AC, mid level AC, and fast DC.

 

[Khatsalano]

I think a duel charger might be useful if you need to fight off smaller EVs at the Type 2 or Chademo stations...

I regularly use my duel chargers at popular SCs to win more amps from the other Teslas.

- K

 

[tfboy]

I regularly use my duel chargers at popular SCs to win more amps from the other Teslas.

- K

IS that the case though? I understood the onboard chargers are for the AC-DC conversion. The Supercharging network is a direct DC load (like Chademo), so bypasses the "chargers" on the Tesla.

 

[FlasherZ]

Onboard chargers are not used at the superchargers and don't affect how much power goes into your car there.

I've only "needed" the high-current chargers about 3 times in 3 years. Most recently, this past weekend our Model X was in the St. Louis St. Patrick's Day parade and came home with about 90 miles left on it. I needed 140 or so to make it to Springfield in the rain to join my family. I had to sit at home for an hour to get enough charge -- that would have been almost 2 hours at 40 amps, and I would have arrived at midnight instead of 11.

Most of the time, it's not going to be something you need. It's a nice-to-have, but you also have to consider it adds about $5k to the price of the car, when you include the HPWC + installation + charger installation in the car. $5k for 3 times over 3 years == about $1,300 each time you *need* it.