Best 3rd Party Level 2 Charger

[RPTRXV]

I’m sure this has come up before but I have a Model X and a CT4 on order and want to get a third party charger that can handle both (will need an adapter for the Tesla I believe). What are people using in their homes? I think best is the 50 amp (or thereabouts) one for my house - which is in LA.

Sponsored

 

[02bluesuperroo]

ClipperCreek and Watzilla both make really good options, assuming you’re in the US.

 

[Viswaa]

JuiceBox

 

[dwaltchack]

juice box

 

[HelfFL]

+1 Clipper Creek. I have the Clipper Creek HCS-50 installed outside for charging Taycan and Model 3 (with adapter that came with Tesla) in the driveway. I also have a PMCC installed inside my garage.

 

[daveo4EV]

the new Porsche 19.2 kW charger seems a good choice - although you already have an EV charger for your Tesla it should charge your Taycan just fine if you purchase a TeslaTap.

ClipperCreek
JuiceBox
ChargePoint
Porsche 19.2 kW charger
Tesla Wall Charger Gen3 w/TeslaTap

are all good choices.

 

[daveo4EV]

if you have TWO EV coming home I recommend a dual charger split load setup - two EV chargers sharing 1 circuit breaker - that way you save on the cost of installing two dedicated 240V circuits

clipper creek makes one such charger

https://store.clippercreek.com/level2/level2-40-to-80/40-amp-dual-evse-6-50

this charger is two charging cords that split the load when charging 2 separate EV’s - or gives full load when charging 1 EV - it will be a great setup for charging two EV’s at once

the adapter you’ll need to charge the Model X comes with the Model X so you’re good to go

your choices are:

• install one EV charger on a dedicated circuit and manually share charing dual EV’s
• install two new 240V circuits and buy two eV chargers - one for each car
  • both the Porsche and Tesla both come with EV chargers - so you do _NOT_ need to purchase any chargers
• install one EV charger that can charge two cars together or separate (see above link)
• install two EV chargers with a “share2” functionality - two separate EV chargers that are configured to share a single breaker
• install two EV chargers each with their own dedicated circuit (two NEMA 14-50’s each with their own 50 amp breaker if your electrical panel can handle the load)

at a minimum you’ll want to install a 50 amp breaker, a NEMA 14-50 plug - and then you can use the porsche charger that comes with the Taycan to charge both the Taycan and the Model X

alternatively you can install a NEMA 14-50 plug and use the Tesla Charger that comes with the Model X to charge both the Model X and the Taycan (via a TeslaTap)

you are getting two EV’s each of which come with their own 40/50 amp chargers - you honestly do not need to purchase a 3rd charger.

unless you want to charge both at once (same time overnight) - if that’s the case you’ll need either a dual-charger setup that can share a single circuit (like the link above) - or you’ll instruct the electrician to install two separate NEMA 14-50 outlets each with their own dedicated 50 amp breaker

to me the issue is NOT what charger to puchase (you’ll have two separate chargers included with each vehicle) - the issue is can you home/garage handle adding 100 amps of dedicated circuits - i.e. one 50 amp circuit for each car so you can charge both of them at once at a full 50 amps (100 amp total) - if your home/garage can NOT handle 100 amps - then I’d seriously consider a 50 amp circuit and the dual clippercreek charger that lets you charge two EV’s at once, but will split the load between them while both are charging like the Clippercreek I linked above

you do NOT need to decided which EV charger to purchase - you first need to have an electrician determine how many amps your garage/home can handle

if only 50/60 amps - then you’ll need a good dual charging split load setup - which means purchasing a split load capable charger
if you can handle a full 100 amps added to your home two separate dedicated 50 amp circuits and you can use the two charger that come with each vehicle.

step 1 - electrician needs to come review your home and determine how much capacity you can add and what it’s going to cost you…then you can decide if it’s time to buy a 3rd/4th EV charger rather than use the two that will come with your vehicle(s)

you can buy chargers in any size/capacity/speed…

if you’re home can onlly handle 60 amps - you coudl buy two separate 30 amp chargers for example - or buy two 60 amp chargers that can be configured to “splt” the load when charging 2 EV’s at the same time…

the real issue here is how much power can you add to your electrical panel - then we can advise on if you need another EV charger

Botht he Taycan and the Model X can charge at 48 amps (60 amp breaker) - that would require a 60/48 amp charger and would required two separate hardwired circuits for two separate EV chartgers (one for the Taycan and one for the Model X)

so that’s 120 amps of capacity in two separate EV chargers each on their own 60 amp breaker…that’s best case but requires your home electrical system to be able to handle that…and you willing to pay for that type of install…

next step down is - 100 amps of charging - via 2 50 amp circuits - if this is what you can handle - then you can use the each of the chargers that come with the two vehicles - each can do 50/40 amps - NEMA 14-50 plugs

next step down from there is a 60 amp circuit - and two clipper creek chargers configured to share a single 60 amp breaker (clipper creeks’ “share” functionality) - when 2 cars are charging they each get 30 amps, when one car is charing it gets the full 60 amps

can do the same thing for 50 amps - two chargers sharing 50 amp circuit
can do the same thing for 40 amps

how much power can your home handle? that’s the real question when provisioning your garage to charge two EV’s at once…

 

[RPTRXV]

if you have TWO EV coming home I recommend a dual charger split load setup - two EV chargers sharing 1 circuit breaker - that way you save on the cost of installing two dedicated 240V circuits

clipper creek makes one such charger

https://store.clippercreek.com/level2/level2-40-to-80/40-amp-dual-evse-6-50

this charger is two charging cords that split the load when charging 2 separate EV’s - or gives full load when charging 1 EV - it will be a great setup for charging two EV’s at once

the adapter you’ll need to charge the Model X comes with the Model X so you’re good to go

your choices are:

• install one EV charger on a dedicated circuit and manually share charing dual EV’s
• install two new 240V circuits and buy two eV chargers - one for each car
  • both the Porsche and Tesla both come with EV chargers - so you do _NOT_ need to purchase any chargers
• install one EV charger that can charge two cars together or separate (see above link)
• install two EV chargers with a “share2” functionality - two separate EV chargers that are configured to share a single breaker
• install two EV chargers each with their own dedicated circuit (two NEMA 14-50’s each with their own 50 amp breaker if your electrical panel can handle the load)

at a minimum you’ll want to install a 50 amp breaker, a NEMA 14-50 plug - and then you can use the porsche charger that comes with the Taycan to charge both the Taycan and the Model X

alternatively you can install a NEMA 14-50 plug and use the Tesla Charger that comes with the Model X to charge both the Model X and the Taycan (via a TeslaTap)

you are getting two EV’s each of which come with their own 40/50 amp chargers - you honestly do not need to purchase a 3rd charger.

unless you want to charge both at once (same time overnight) - if that’s the case you’ll need either a dual-charger setup that can share a single circuit (like the link above) - or you’ll instruct the electrician to install two separate NEMA 14-50 outlets each with their own dedicated 50 amp breaker

to me the issue is NOT what charger to puchase (you’ll have two separate chargers included with each vehicle) - the issue is can you home/garage handle adding 100 amps of dedicated circuits - i.e. one 50 amp circuit for each car so you can charge both of them at once at a full 50 amps (100 amp total) - if your home/garage can NOT handle 100 amps - then I’d seriously consider a 50 amp circuit and the dual clippercreek charger that lets you charge two EV’s at once, but will split the load between them while both are charging like the Clippercreek I linked above

you do NOT need to decided which EV charger to purchase - you first need to have an electrician determine how many amps your garage/home can handle

if only 50/60 amps - then you’ll need a good dual charging split load setup - which means purchasing a split load capable charger
if you can handle a full 100 amps added to your home two separate dedicated 50 amp circuits and you can use the two charger that come with each vehicle.

step 1 - electrician needs to come review your home and determine how much capacity you can add and what it’s going to cost you…then you can decide if it’s time to buy a 3rd/4th EV charger rather than use the two that will come with your vehicle(s)

you can buy chargers in any size/capacity/speed…

if you’re home can onlly handle 60 amps - you coudl buy two separate 30 amp chargers for example - or buy two 60 amp chargers that can be configured to “splt” the load when charging 2 EV’s at the same time…

the real issue here is how much power can you add to your electrical panel - then we can advise on if you need another EV charger

Botht he Taycan and the Model X can charge at 48 amps (60 amp breaker) - that would require a 60/48 amp charger and would required two separate hardwired circuits for two separate EV chartgers (one for the Taycan and one for the Model X)

so that’s 120 amps of capacity in two separate EV chargers each on their own 60 amp breaker…that’s best case but requires your home electrical system to be able to handle that…and you willing to pay for that type of install…

next step down is - 100 amps of charging - via 2 50 amp circuits - if this is what you can handle - then you can use the each of the chargers that come with the two vehicles - each can do 50/40 amps - NEMA 14-50 plug

next step down from there is a 60 amp circuit - and two clipper creek chargers configured to share a single 60 amp breaker (clipper creeks’ “share” functionality) - when 2 cars are charging they each get 30 amps, when one car is charing it gets the full 60 amps

can do the same thing for 50 amps - two chargers sharing 50 amp circuit
can do the same thing for 40 amps

how much power can your home handle? that’s the real question when provisioning your garage to charge two EV’s at once…

This is an amazing explanation, thank you so much for laying it out clearly - super helpful. My current thinking after reading through what you wrote is to have a 60 amp breaker (pretty sure home can handle this) charging at 48 amp. I would use that to charge each vehicle one at a time - I cannot imagine a situation where I'm charging both at once, we just don't drive that much.

Based on what you said, it sounds like both the Taycan and the Tesla each come w/a charger - I just need to have the electrician verify 60 amps and install a NEMA 14-50 plug. So it sounds like I wait for the cars and the chargers to arrive, then I use one as a dedicated home charger and the other floats between the cars (most likely to the Tesla since I don't expect to take long drives in the Taycan), as a charger on the go when I'm outside the home. Does that all sound accurate or did I miss something.

Thank you again for the detailed explainer.

 

[hkarthik]

Availability of chargers is an issue right now, regardless of what charger works best. PMCC's are in short supply with Porsche, and both Clipper Creek and Chargepoint were backordered when I checked a month ago. Juicebox had availability the last time I checked. Unsure of the others.

Tesla is probably the easiest to source, so I'd suggest starting there since you have a Model X coming anyway.

 

[daveo4EV]

This is an amazing explanation, thank you so much for laying it out clearly - super helpful. My current thinking after reading through what you wrote is to have a 60 amp breaker (pretty sure home can handle this) charging at 48 amp. I would use that to charge each vehicle one at a time - I cannot imagine a situation where I'm charging both at once, we just don't drive that much.

Based on what you said, it sounds like both the Taycan and the Tesla each come w/a charger - I just need to have the electrician verify 60 amps and install a NEMA 14-50 plug. So it sounds like I wait for the cars and the chargers to arrive, then I use one as a dedicated home charger and the other floats between the cars (most likely to the Tesla since I don't expect to take long drives in the Taycan), as a charger on the go when I'm outside the home. Does that all sound accurate or did I miss something.

Thank you again for the detailed explainer.

yes that is 95% accurate

if you're using one of the included chargers with either the Tesla or the Porsche - you'll have a 50 amp breaker installed and a NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 plug - this is the maximum plug size supported in North America - a 50 amp breaker will allow you to charge either the Taycan or Tesla at 40 amps (9.6 kW).

A 60 amp breaker should be paired with a 60 amp charger (will charge at 48 amps - 11 kW) - this would require a hardwired charger (not plug based) since building codes in North America do not allow for a plug based appliance/device to be more than 50 amps.

so you either get a 50 amp breaker + NEMA 14-50/6-50 plug and use one of the included charges - this will charge either car at 40 amps (9.6 kW)

_OR_

you install a 60 amp breaker and purchase a 60 amp EV charger like the ClipperCreek HCS 60 which will charge either car at 48 amps (11 kW)

 

[daveo4EV]

Availability of chargers is an issue right now, regardless of what charger works best. PMCC's are in short supply with Porsche, and both Clipper Creek and Chargepoint were backordered when I checked a month ago. Juicebox had availability the last time I checked. Unsure of the others.

Tesla is probably the easiest to source, so I'd suggest starting there since you have a Model X coming anyway.

the Taycan and the Model X will both be delivered with a 40/50 amp charger. The Taycan will come with a PMC+ and the Model X will come with a Tesla Gen2 40 amp charger.

 

[RPTRXV]

yes that is 95% accurate

if you're using one of the included chargers with either the Tesla or the Porsche - you'll have a 50 amp breaker installed and a NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 plug - this is the maximum plug size supported in North America - a 50 amp breaker will allow you to charge either the Taycan or Tesla at 40 amps (9.6 kW).

A 60 amp breaker should be paired with a 60 amp charger (will charge at 48 amps - 11 kW) - this would require a hardwired charger (not plug based) since building codes in North America do not allow for a plug based appliance/device to be more than 50 amps.

so you either get a 50 amp breaker + NEMA 14-50/6-50 plug and use one of the included charges - this will charge either car at 40 amps (9.6 kW)

_OR_

you install a 60 amp breaker and purchase a 60 amp EV charger like the ClipperCreek HCS 60 which will charge either car at 48 amps (11 kW)

Again super helpful, I guess I'll stick w/50 amp + NEMA 14-50/6-50 plug (assume either plug works with porsche / tesla charger that come with the car). Thank you again.

 

[daveo4EV]

Again super helpful, I guess I'll stick w/50 amp + NEMA 14-50/6-50 plug (assume either plug works with porsche / tesla charger that come with the car). Thank you again.

you'll most likely want the 14-50 - it's the default plug that comes with Tesla and Taycan - but 6-50 is an option also - and Amazon can provide an adapter from one to the other.

Go with NEMA 14-50.

 

[RPTRXV]

you'll most likely want the 14-50 - it's the default plug that comes with Tesla and Taycan - but 6-50 is an option also - and Amazon can provide an adapter from one to the other.

Go with NEMA 14-50.

14-50 it is!

Sponsored