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Supercharger - Darien CT Rest Area

Todd Burch

Voltage makes me tingle.
Nov 3, 2009
7,801
28,498
Smithfield, VA
For 3 phase power, multiply by square root of 3. (Well, and the power factor, but let's assume 1 for a second).
480 x 210 x 1.732 = 174 kW


Adding in a power factor of 70% (shouldn't be nearly that low, but it's not 1 either since it's a AC to DC transformer) you'll get:
480 x 210 x 1.732 x 0.7 = 122 kW

Thanks deonb/RandyS. My 3-phase knowledge is rusty...my electrical engineering class was only 13 years ago!
 

NigelM

Recovering Member
Apr 3, 2011
13,386
555
Northern Virginia
I'm maintaining a map of SC's - with existing SC's - and future SC's that are confirmed by evidence based information - for those of us on the west coast that don't have intimate knowledge of where exactly this is - could some one please take a look at the map I've provided and inspect the Darien Location "pin" I've dropped on my map - if it's in the wrong place please post a corrected location to the forums and I'll update.

thanks,

Summer 2013 Tesla supercharger locations - Google Maps

Nice to have lots of these maps, but I wonder if we can't combine them somehow? Note there are two others on this thread also: Map-of-current-upcoming-and-suspected-Tesla-Superchargers
 

PhilBa

Active Member
Apr 20, 2013
1,382
68
Seattle
I'm maintaining a map of SC's - with existing SC's - and future SC's that are confirmed by evidence based information - for those of us on the west coast that don't have intimate knowledge of where exactly this is - could some one please take a look at the map I've provided and inspect the Darien Location "pin" I've dropped on my map - if it's in the wrong place please post a corrected location to the forums and I'll update.

thanks,

Summer 2013 Tesla supercharger locations - Google Maps

DR4EV, you might want to start a separate thread so that people can contribute to your map without going OT. Sorry for going OT here, folks.
 

goneskiian

Active Member
Nov 16, 2012
2,618
805
Bellevue WA
Maybe I missed it but nobody commented on the solar panels on the roof of the gas station island in the background. Are those new and related to the Superchargers? What? Way up in Connecticut? ;)

Congrats! Looks further along than our new station here in Washington!

Cheers!
 

VolkerP

EU Model S P-37
Jul 6, 2011
2,464
27
Germany
you might want to join forces with forum use daxz.

He maintains a similar map with nifty features. check it out: Tesla Supercharger Map estimator

I'm maintaining a map of SC's - with existing SC's - and future SC's that are confirmed by evidence based information - for those of us on the west coast that don't have intimate knowledge of where exactly this is - could some one please take a look at the map I've provided and inspect the Darien Location "pin" I've dropped on my map - if it's in the wrong place please post a corrected location to the forums and I'll update.

thanks,

Summer 2013 Tesla supercharger locations - Google Maps
 

kendallpb

Model S: P 8061
Oct 29, 2010
1,251
52
MD, USA
Maybe I missed it but nobody commented on the solar panels on the roof of the gas station island in the background. Are those new and related to the Superchargers? What? Way up in Connecticut? ;)

Oh! I was so focused on the Superchargers that I didn't even notice. (blush) Cool.
 

timf

Active Member
Apr 14, 2013
1,039
160
Michigan
Maybe I missed it but nobody commented on the solar panels on the roof of the gas station island in the background. Are those new and related to the Superchargers? What? Way up in Connecticut? ;)

I noted this in the duplicate copy of this thread. It is rather ironic Mobil installed them before Tesla. Someone speculated that they might be related to the Supercharger installation, but I find it rather doubtful that Tesla would be working with Mobil or the franchisee on the project.
 

Enadler

Member
Nov 29, 2012
405
91
Westchester, NY
Not so doubtful. Mobil doesnt own the station they just lease the space like Tesla is. Why construct a canopy when an existing barren roof already exists?

BTW good catch Aaron. I used the Milford charges yesterday for the first time. I have to say VERY COOL!

I noted this in the duplicate copy of this thread. It is rather ironic Mobil installed them before Tesla. Someone speculated that they might be related to the Supercharger installation, but I find it rather doubtful that Tesla would be working with Mobil or the franchisee on the project.
 

aaron.s

Member
May 31, 2012
999
36
Not so doubtful. Mobil doesnt own the station they just lease the space like Tesla is. Why construct a canopy when an existing barren roof already exists?

BTW good catch Aaron. I used the Milford charges yesterday for the first time. I have to say VERY COOL!

All -

When I'm out at Teslive next month, I'll see if I can find the right person to ask about those solar panels in Darien & Milford - I certainly hope they're related to the superchargers! I don't believe I remember seeing them at other CT Service Areas that are not supercharger equipped...

Aaron
 

zeron

Member
Dec 30, 2012
72
0
Milky Way
Just 2 bays? I guess there are more on the other side of the freeway?

I think they are building all superchargers with 2 bays initially, but generally negotiate for 8-10 parking spots, to convert into superchargers as needed. Theres more to superchargers than just the bays, theres lots of stuff in the electrical backend, so adding bays may not be the time-consuming part here.
 
Feb 2, 2013
145
-3
NY
I was driving to the Milford supercharger on 6/5/13 and on the way I saw they closed down the Darien service area for construction for a few days. I saw they had a tall crane above the Mobil gas station roof. That must have been them installing the solar panels before they installed the superchargers. Its a hug project to build a supercharger because they have to lift those huge solar panels on top the roof. So it must take 2-4 weeks to do that.
 

CapitalistOppressor

Active Member
Jun 18, 2012
1,621
0
Great news.

Interesting that the sign says "Reserved for Low Emitting / Fuel Efficient Vehicles" instead of "Reserved for Tesla vehicles". Wonder if that's a clue that other cars using the Tesla drivetrain will have supercharging capability? Or I'm just reading too much into it.

It's for tax reasons, and green credits. When determining eligibility for tax credits for parking lots the applicable legislation doesn't reference "Tesla" :)

The specific language "Reserved for Low Emitting / Fuel Efficient Vehicles" is required for LEED certification from the USGBC. And LEED certification allows you to capture a number of other incentives available for operating a green facility.

Here an example of the pilot credit that this installation is likely meant to satisfy. Note that a battery swapper would also qualify for this credit -

Green vehicles | U.S. Green Building Council
 

MaturinNYC

Member
Dec 14, 2012
59
14
Pearl River, NY
All -

When I'm out at Teslive next month, I'll see if I can find the right person to ask about those solar panels in Darien & Milford - I certainly hope they're related to the superchargers! I don't believe I remember seeing them at other CT Service Areas that are not supercharger equipped...

Aaron

Two weeks ago i took a trip along the Merritt Pkwy and i solar panels on several of the recently refurbished rest areas there, so i'm guessing it's part of the state's greening efforts? I know Tesla has said that "eventually" all the superchargers will have panels.
 

kendallpb

Model S: P 8061
Oct 29, 2010
1,251
52
MD, USA
It's for tax reasons, and green credits. When determining eligibility for tax credits for parking lots the applicable legislation doesn't reference "Tesla" :)

The specific language "Reserved for Low Emitting / Fuel Efficient Vehicles" is required for LEED certification from the USGBC. And LEED certification allows you to capture a number of other incentives available for operating a green facility.

Hopefully they may add a second sign saying something like "Please only park here if you can charge at a Tesla Supercharger." It would be bad if Leafs or Volts started parking here and effectively ICEd us.
 

PhilBa

Active Member
Apr 20, 2013
1,382
68
Seattle
I think they are building all superchargers with 2 bays initially, but generally negotiate for 8-10 parking spots, to convert into superchargers as needed. Theres more to superchargers than just the bays, theres lots of stuff in the electrical backend, so adding bays may not be the time-consuming part here.

Hmmm, the SC going into Burlington, WA looks to have 8 bays based on photos posted here
 

Robbo

Member
May 24, 2013
121
7
Fairfield County, CT
All -

When I'm out at Teslive next month, I'll see if I can find the right person to ask about those solar panels in Darien & Milford - I certainly hope they're related to the superchargers! I don't believe I remember seeing them at other CT Service Areas that are not supercharger equipped...

Aaron

I took my 2 day old "S" on a Supercharger run up to Milford yesterday afternoon (just to check it out). I pulled into the Northbound service center and the chargers were off line, being worked on by a tech. He said one of the chargers was acting up and asked if I needed a "big" charge. I said I only needed a 15 minute top up, so he brought one of the chargers back online for me (since we could see that both chargers on the Southbound side were in use). While I was charging I chatted with the tech. Turns out he is actually an engineer on the Supercharger design team based in Palo Alto that flew out for a short visit to the Newark and Milford chargers. He said that he thought all of the first gen chargers would be replaced with new hardware/software in 2-3 months (including the faster charging and longer charging cables). I asked about the solar array over the gas pumps and he didn't know if they were Tesla's or not. He did not know when Darien would go live (the guys doing new Supercharger buildouts are a different team). I asked about Greenwich and he had no idea about the location.

After a quick 70 mile boost I was ready to go, the tech asked me to try out the other charger for him, which was now working fine (something about a crimped wire coming loose) and I went on my way.

Checked out the Southbound chargers on the turnaround which were being used by two black S's (85 and P85) with NJ plates.
 

Robbo

Member
May 24, 2013
121
7
Fairfield County, CT
So I volunteered to my wife to make a Whole Foods run to Darien so I could check out the Supercharger there. The setup at the Northbound rest area looks identical to the Southbound Milford one. The charging cable looks about twice as long as the ones in Milford. There are 4 spots marked for low emission/fuel efficient vehicles (two of which are the Tesla bays). The rest area has been nicely renovated with a new McDonald's (historically one of the busiest locations in the USA) and McCafe coffee shop and several other restaurants (Subway, CheeseBoy, Mac N Out, Dunkin Donuts, Wilson's BBQ)


51b0e1466e4ad.image.jpg


http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Darien-Interstate-95-rest-area-reopens-4583075.php

The bubble wrap was removed on one of the chargers so I figured what the hell and gave it a shot, but my dash said there was no power to the charger.

I left the rest area, went to Whole Foods and then drove by the Southbound service area which is actually about two miles south of the northbound service area (as opposed to Milford, where the rest areas are directly across the highway). The rest area is still under construction but per the article linked above, it is expected to open "by July". I can't imagine they will be done in a week, but they should be able to be done before the end of the summer.
 

alc

Member
Jun 25, 2013
9
1
United States
I stopped by Darien yesterday. I can confirm there are TWO different locations at the Darien North rest stop (not including any that there will be in the southbound). As you come into the rest stop, you can go straing along the building where the gas pumps are. There are two superchargers there (pictured in the OP). You can also turn right to park to enter the restaurants/stores or you can continue straight. Toward the back of that parking lot, there are two other superchargers. See attached pic (don't know why I only took a pic of one of them). There are a total of four bays at Darien North.
darien.jpg
 

aaron.s

Member
May 31, 2012
999
36
I stopped by Darien yesterday. I can confirm there are TWO different locations at the Darien North rest stop (not including any that there will be in the southbound). As you come into the rest stop, you can go straing along the building where the gas pumps are. There are two superchargers there (pictured in the OP). You can also turn right to park to enter the restaurants/stores or you can continue straight. Toward the back of that parking lot, there are two other superchargers. See attached pic (don't know why I only took a pic of one of them). There are a total of four bays at Darien North.
View attachment 24344

DAMN! Good spotting alc! I didn't even think to look any further! Since the Milford chargers are only 2 on either side, I just assumed it was the same here!

Aaron
 

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