We have two EVs and just alternate charging as required.

Maybe just lucky but after 5 years we have never yet clashed and both been desperate at the same time

 

We've had 2 EVs for a year or so now, and have just charged which needs it most each night.

On the very rare occasions when both cars need a charge (both been used on long trips the previous day and both needed next day - or just through bad planning and forgetting to charge one of them), we've charged one overnight and one in the morning.

On Intelligent Octopus Go or Eon Next Drive Smart we can typically plug the second car in at 5/6/7am and get a decent 2-4 hours charging still at the cheap rate.

I would recommend getting a charger which supports charger integration with IOG/etc, as it makes it easier to manage charging of 2 cars, and means that if you later switch to a car which doesn't support smart tariffs it won't matter (as you are using charger integration not vehicle integration).

On plain Octopus Go (or non-Smart Eon Next Drive) the morning charging would be at the standard rate, which for rare events is probably fine in any case.

 

We now have 3 EVs on the drive. Luckily my commute is only 28 miles a day so roughly only need to top up every7-10 days. Step daughters car does 35miles a day so top up every 5 days. My partner's car does the least mileage as she works from home, so a top up every 2 weeks.
So what I'm saying unless your commute is using both vehicles range every day then it should be easily done throughout the week swapping vehicle charging.

 

We have two. They each do 8-10000 miles a year and the need to charge them on the same day has been pretty rare. When it does happen I just charge one in the afternoon/evening and one overnight. Worst case, you don't get the cheaper rate for the first one and it's a one off cost of a few quid. But often, on Octopus Intelligent, you can get some cheap hours for the first one too.
Ideally you need a charger that will integrate with smart tariffs, and ideally not require integration with the car. That way it's easy to charge two different cars on the smart tariff. I have an Ohme, which works well.

 

Hi all

I currently own an ICE car but we have recently bought my wife a Cupra Born which I’m quite taken with.
95% of our driving is around town and commuting so it really makes sense for me to go EV. I’m a massive petrolhead and love anything with an engine but not so much that I can’t see the value in an EV.
I’m considering an Alpine A290 but was wondering if there’s a way that 2 EV’s can be charged at the same time or if 2 cables can be used with some sort of splitter and set to charge one when the other has finished.
I guess what I’m saying is there a way I can automate it without having to get up at 4am to switch the charger from one car to another, but even that way there isn’t enough off peak hours in a night.
I suppose the way would be to charge on alternate days.
Just curious if there’s is a way in case we ever both need a full tank of electric.

Cheers.

There are a number of options which depending on your circumstances have Pros and Cons.

The vehicles you mention aren't bargain basement so I'd ask if you live somewhere which might already have 3 phase power or if you woukd be able to upgrade to a 3 phase supply.
Doing so would allow for a second chargepoint and for both to charge faster.
Of course there could be some consideration why it's a non starter.
If you have a seoerste garage perhaps you coukd have a seperate supply installed for that but you'd then have double the standing charges.
You coukd install two Easee One chargepoints and have them set to load share, both coukd charge at the same time then once one has completed the other one woukd continue. The drawback is the total liad restriction to 32 amps.
Bithe woukd chsrgecat 16 amps quite happily then the one still going would ramp up to 32 amps. The biggest drawback is that the Easee One isn't IOG compatible but there are other ToU tariffs giving 6 hours ir more cheap rate.
You coukd install a double headed chargepoint, a number of these are available but aren't really aimed at the home market and therefore are nit compatible with Octopus IOG, again other tariffs are available.

One last option would be to consider using OVO and its Charge Anytime bolt on.
Cheap power whenever you need it so you could charge cheaply during the day, the cheap power is only for car charges though and it's restricted to a maximum £100 per month for the entire household. Note that's about 600kWh per month so might be enough for both cars.
All your other household usage would be at the normal rate so savings are limited further.

One really stupid option is to have a socket installed for granny charging one car while the other charges but it's expensive and lossy as well as only adding about 8 miles of range at best per hour of charging, then there are the risks to consider.

If you live in a normal 1p house, have a modest driveway and really need the cheapest Octopus tariff for some reason then you might get away with charging on alternative days as the ranges of both vehicles might be mire tgan sufficient.

Without a lot of details all answers are really best guesses.

Gaz

 

Thanks for all the replies.

We’re on Eon next drive smart with a new Zappi Glo charger.

I guess we would be ok charging on alternate days. My wife works further away than I do but her commute is only around 10 miles and mine is about 4.

Incidentally does anyone on here have an Alpine A290 and what are your thoughts? I’m really surprised at the lack of the new R5 / Alpine A290’s EV’s that I’ve seen. I thought there would be loads like the mini and fiat 500.

I’m really torn TBH because my commute is so small the fuel I use is negligible but I really like the mrs EV. I currently have a 300bhp+ BMW 340i that I love and has very low mileage from new but an EV just makes perfect sense really.

First world problems I guess

 

Thanks for all the replies.

We’re on Eon next drive smart with a new Zappi Glo charger.

I guess we would be ok charging on alternate days. My wife works further away than I do but her commute is only around 10 miles and mine is about 4.

Incidentally does anyone on here have an Alpine A290 and what are your thoughts? I’m really surprised at the lack of the new R5 / Alpine A290’s EV’s that I’ve seen. I thought there would be loads like the mini and fiat 500.

I’m really torn TBH because my commute is so small the fuel I use is negligible but I really like the mrs EV. I currently have a 300bhp+ BMW 340i that I love and has very low mileage from new but an EV just makes perfect sense really.

First world problems I guess

Have a look in the r5 sub-forum, @simcity has one.

The problem with short commutes is much more power would be used in conditioning the car than the actual drive but nowhere near as much wastage as a petrol car.

My half a mile commute will likely never be beaten but 4 miles is low.

You could charge one car every Tuesday and the other one every Thursday and never have a problem.

Gaz

 

With those low commute distances there's no reason to need to charge at the same time / day at all.

 

Get a second EVSE fitted?
But seeing those commute distances…..

 

edit delete

 

Buying cars is not a rational decision for most folk. Logic says keep the BMW & borrow the Cupra occasionally to get your EV fix but you want the Alpine not need it.

 

I’m considering an Alpine A290 but was wondering if there’s a way that 2 EV’s can be charged at the same time or if 2 cables can be used with some sort of splitter and set to charge one when the other has finished.
I guess what I’m saying is there a way I can automate it without having to get up at 4am to switch the charger from one car to another, but even that way there isn’t enough off peak hours in a night.

Yes you can get charge-points that can connect and charge two EVs at the same time, they're smart and split the capacity according to whether one or two cars are connected.

This sort of thing:

PowerPair | 7.4kW Dual Charger | Charge two cars together

Charge two cars together with PowerPair - the innovative dual power charger that lets you charge one car with 7.4kWh power or 2 together with 3.7kWh power.

evec.co.uk

Or this, which has dynamic load balancing:

Project EV EVA-07D-SE-W 7.3kW Untethered Dual Socket EV Charger

Project EV EVA07DSEW 7.3kW Untethered Dual Socket Single Phase EV Charger with RFID card compatibility. Smart power adjustments and 5 year warranty.

www.electricpoint.com

 

Thanks guys.

Agreed the commute for of us is very short but I was just thinking worse case scenario really.

We also have a diesel campervan that we could use for long journeys is necessary but it’s huge so not ideal.

Also yes, I want but definitely don’t need the Alpine.

 

We have 2 EVs. One of which does a lot of miles and one average miles. Never been an issue with 1 charger.
You won't need to charge both of them every night.

 

I have two EVs. My van is fully charged every night, as the range is as low as 60 miles in winter. My mileage varies from 8 to 40 miles most days, but I don’t know where I have to go until I sign on in the morning. My car does about 150 miles per week, so I charge it once a week, usually on Friday night. It’s been fine, no problems.

A friend of mine also has two EVs, and a caravan 80 miles away. Sometimes his wife takes the grandkids to the caravan at short notice, needing a full charge, yet apart from a few minor arguments (they’re an old married couple after all…) it’s rarely a problem. Perhaps 5 times a year one of them has to use a public charger instead. With such low mileage, you’ll go weeks between charges, so it really isn’t an issue.

 

With such low mileage, you’ll go weeks between charges, so it really isn’t an issue.

This is it in a nutshell.

If both EVs were driven DAILY to their range limits only then really do you need to countenance having 2 EVSE for simultaneous charging. But even that’s not always necessary (or indeed desirable due to capacity limitations one may have on the domestic supply, esp. a single phased supply if wanting to simultaneously charge in their off peak energy window).

So perhaps in a large “family” setting with multiple EVs (three or more) that are doing longish miles then it may become a real “need”. Otherwise domestically 95%, not really necessary. Definitely not on the OPs possible usage / mileage scenarios, including what ifs and one offs.

 

We have 2 EVs and my annual mileage is just north of 15,000 per year. The wife does about 10,000. We just alternate charging each night, regardless of how low we are. Our commutes are way longer than yours so we need to do that, but for your situation......

It's no good leaving it to 10% the night before, then for the other half to also do the same thing.

 

I think you just need to adjust your mindset from ICEV (where you have to take the car to a petrol station to fill-up) to an EV (where you have your own refuelling at home).

Of course, it takes longer to refuel your EV but the car is sat there at home. You can recharge it with little inconvenience. In practice many people don't let it fall below, say, 40% before charging up to 75%-80%. And if a long trip is certain the next day, then perhaps to 100%.

To reassure yourself about the 2-cars-one-chargepoint model, it might be worth logging your current mileage for a typical few weeks. Then work out how many hours of charging would be needed. I suspect you'll find that you don't actually need to plug in for that long and can interleave charging with little conflict.

 

We have 2 Leafs and an Evec PowerPair (as in post #14 above).
It has one tethered and one Type-2 socket, which works well for us because one Leaf is Type-1 (using the mode-3 supplied cable) and the new Leaf takes the tethered.
Being Leafs, we need to plug them in a lot but even so we rarely charge both at the same time. To do so means parking them close together, which is a bit awkard with our driveway, so the old Leaf normally has the Granny charger. But it's nice to have the option. The tethered runs at 28 amps, but will cut to 14 if the other one is plugged in, so it doesn't overload.

 

We have 2 EVs. On rare occasions when we both need charge we just charge one on peak electricity, still cheaper than public chargers.

 

Also a 2 ev household with 1 charger, most days its a non issue as the zoe does a fairly average yearly mileage so doesnt need charging that often. The van does around 28,000 miles a year and is charging most nights, its only ever an issue if we need both charged for the same day(generally this just means charging one the night before and plugging the other in overnight once the first finishes) only happens about once a year or so.

 

Try to locate charger so you can get two cars parked and easily plug in each as needed..

 

As @Troy said, on a very practical note, make sure that your cable is long enough to reach both cars, parked sub-optimally. So however they are oriented, you don’t have to re-park them in order to charge. If your cable isn’t long enough, forum posts on here indicate that some owners have been able to replace a shorter cable with a longer one without too much hassle/cost.

 

I would have one 'proper' charger installed and then charge the other car occasionally (only!) on a granny charger. You could get an electrician to make sure the socket is safe for high power loads. Granny chargers aren't meant for continuous usage and don't have all the same safety features that normal chargers have, but legally speaking there is no prohibition from using one as they are classified as portable appliances. Providing you can plan your charging, the granny charger only gets used in an urgent situation where both need to be charged at the same time.

 

We have two EVs and do about 30k miles per year between us, using one dumb EVSE and a five hour overnight tariff. It’s almost never a problem and only slightly tricky if we both need a 100% charge for the next day (very rare). In this instance we also take advantage of an outside 240v socket on the granny charger. It’s very straightforward.