Can I charge two electric cars with one charger?

Charging two cars with one charger: the options

More and more families have two plug-in cars and wonder whether one charger can handle both. It depends on the equipment and the power available in the home.

1. A single-socket charger, in turns

The simplest option: charge one car and, when it finishes, the other. With a 7.4 kW charger, a 60 kWh battery goes from 20 to 80 % in about 5 hours, so one off-peak night is enough to charge one car and make a start on the other. Many chargers let you schedule sessions from the app.

2. A twin-socket charger

Some units have two connectors and charge both cars at once. The power is shared: if the charger delivers 7.4 kW in total, each car gets part of it. They are common in businesses and in garages with a three-phase supply.

3. Two chargers with power sharing

Two chargers, one per parking space, linked to each other with power sharing: they divide the available power and never exceed the limit you set. It is the most convenient solution if each car has its own space, and the most widely used in communal garages and fleets.

Contracted power is what decides

With 4.6 kW of contracted power (potencia contratada) you cannot charge at 7.4 kW without load balancing, let alone two cars. So when there are two vehicles:

• Dynamic load balancing adjusts charging to what the house is using at each moment.
• You can raise only the off-peak power on the 2.0TD tariff to charge more at night.
• With a three-phase supply, an 11 or 22 kW charger shares comfortably between two cars.

What to choose

When to call an electrician

Call when the second car arrives, or before installing the first charger if you already plan to have two: sizing the supply line correctly now saves work later. In Seville, Spain, we plan it through home EV charger installation for houses, and if your contract falls short, through a contracted power increase.