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We are about to be closing on our new house in Dallas which has a detached garage. We are a 2 Volt household and want to upgrade to Level 2 charging in the new house. I obviously intend to hire an electrician, but I was hoping to get some advice on what my best option is for setup given that we'd like to be able to charge them both (placement, whether I should add 2 separate 240 volt outlets or if I can have 2 chargers feeding off the same 240v outlet (saw some Clipper Creek model that had dual chargers). I also want to make sure that the chargers we install can handle both our volts but also has sufficient amps for any upcoming models and was hoping for recommendations. Also hoping to hear what model of charger you guys would recommend.

Also, I'm sure any electrician could do the work, but thought I'd see if there was any electricians in Dallas which specialize in EV charging stations.

Lots of requests up above, but would appreciate any info you could provide.
 

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I had a CC LCS-25 installed 4+ years ago, while it now happily feeds our 2017 Volt for 18 months it serviced our 2 Volt's - a 2012 and 2013 w/o issues.

A Lvl II EVSE changes how you use your Volt. It's worth the cost.
 

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I guess BAZINGA's situation illustrates that one charger might fit your needs if the charge scheduling/lifestyle-thingy works out for you. You could always keep the 110V unit in reserve to get the ball rolling which your priority ride was connected to the L2.

If money is no object, go for the dual L2 installation. I'd love to have your problem. Congrats!
 

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Without taking a look at the existing wire, breaker box, and transformer, it's a bit hard to say exactly what the options are.

For right now, the Volt's amperage needs are minimal, even at Level 2. You can easily run two EVSE's from a single 50 Amp circuit. Depending on your wiring, you might even be able convert an existing circuit to 240 and add two NEMA 6-20 outlets for TurboCord Dual's or hardwire in two Clipper Creek LCS-20's. If you have the right gauge wire (e.g. 6-2 Copper or 4-2 Alum), you are looking at one hour of labor and $100 in parts. This get's you five (or more) years down the line and allows you to see where things are going before shelling out the big money. No breaker box drama... simple to do.

If the garage is fed with lighter gauge wire, you'll be forced to run new wire. If that's the case, I think you have three options.

1) Run one 50 Amps circuit from the main panel. You would need to pull at least one 6-2 Copper or 4-2 Alum wire. A 60ft run would be around $250 for the wire and ~$100 for tandom breakers and appropriate receptacles. Add on a few misc parts and I'd guess $500 plus labor. You are able to run two Clipper Creek LCS-20's, which are currently appropriate for your Volts.

2) Given that labor is far more expense than the parts, it makes a lot of sense to future proof a bit and pull two circuits at the same time. The labor cost stays the about same, but the wire and parts will be closer to $750. This would provide the ability to run everything up to two slightly derated 48 Amp Tesla home chargers simultaneously (running at 8.6 kW or 7.7kW depending on cable length, etc). Most newer 150-amp or 200-amp service panels (breaker boxes) should accommodate this without too much problem, but you are really pushing the capacity of the home's maximum load from the meter.

3) Add a 100, 150, or even a 200 Amp sub-panel in the garage and feed two 50 amp (or greater) circuits from there. A 100 Amp service from the existing meter would take some work, but might be done without a major reconfigured of your meter and service wire from the transformer.

Note: As of today, the largest home charging system is the Tesla High Amperage Charger, which is capable of 72 amps. Plan for two of those and you are looking at some serious electrical work, including adding a second transformer (or upgrading to a commercial transformer), adding a second meter (or replacing the current meter with a commercial meter), and pulling new service wire from the transformer to the home and/or garage. In effect, you are adding a second panel, identical (or greater) to your home's existing service. Depending on the accessibility to the pole/transformer and what is between the house and garage. this might actually be easier to do than pulling wire from the house to the garage. It's going to be expensive, but you are set for the forceable future regardless what happens with home charging.

Any good electrician can figure out your options. You don't specifically need a electrician that specialize in EV charging stations, but you do need to let then know about the max load and frequency of use. At a minimum, for today, you are looking for one 50 Amp or two 20 Amp circuits. For the future, you are looking at two 50 Amp circuits. If you are really want to future proof, you are looking at a 150 Amp (or greater) service panel dedicated to the garage.
 

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Have the electrician run a conduit for the second outlet and cover it if you don't want to energize it. If later you want to add it you can, just pull the wire, add a breaker. I assume your detached garage will have minimum 220v 50 AMP sub panel. The volt draws (13.3A) lower current than most newer EVs, the Chevy Bolt draws 26.6A. Try to future proof, making upgrades easy. Garage sub panel should have extra empty circuit breaker slots for upgrades.
 

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In practical terms, you only need a connection which is fast enough to meet your driving needs. Two NEMA 6-20 connections will require the least amount of circuit box capacity, and will give you a 12-13 miles per hour charge rate. This will max out the charge rate on your Volts. If it were me, I would go with this option and pull a higher gauge wire in case you want to upgrade it in the future. Even if you get a 200+ mile EV in the future, this rate would satisfy most peoples usage needs.

The cost of the installation gets higher if you need to upgrade your panel or add a sub-panel.
 

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I'd place a 50-amp subpanel in a separate structure situation. More amps are better. (Mine has 125-amp.) Lights, aux circuits, openers , beer fridge, etc add up.

Two volts only need two 20-amp circuits for max charging.

Having a subpanel makes future changes easier.

Remember that most folks in the US move every five years. Don't go crazy.
 

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I recently added a 50A subpanel to my semi-detached garage. I have a lot of 12/2 wire available since I'm still rewiring the rest of my home, so I used that to add a NEMA 6-20 outlet next to my parking spot in the garage. I would recommend using 10/3 wire, as that will allow future upgrades (Most EVSE's do not need 4 wires, but it's better to be prepared). For my EVSE, I chose the Duosida 16A

I would recommend you choose the subpanel option as that allows for easy upgrades and additions. I would also recommend 2x 6-20 outlets for your EVSE's. This would allow simultaneous charging of any EV without tripping the breaker. The Gen 1 and Gen 2 Volt's max out at 3.3kW and 3.6kW, which is well with in the 6-20R's 20A limitation.
 

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DFW, TX here as well and I'm only one guy with one volt so my charging requirements are pretty simple. I did run a dedicated 240V circuit in some conduit just for the stock (gen 2) charger. Been working flawlessly for almost 25k miles. Max it's going to draw is 12A @ 240V.

A 15A circuit per car would work, but if you are planning on getting a Tesla anything down the road I'd just go ahead and put in a single 50A circuit and call it a day.

I did mine a bit fancy though -- created a semi-automated drop down charge tube in the middle of the garage, fully retracts via wireless key fob as well:

https://youtu.be/TBbvdXXPG_A?t=15

[video]https://youtu.be/TBbvdXXPG_A?t=15[/video]


Not sure how handy you are, but it's rather easy to run your own circuits to code. Fair warning it's about the worst time of year to do any work in the attic unless its *early* in the morning, even then its still 80-85F outside.
 
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