Supercharger - Darien CT Rest Area

[CT7Summits]

I stopped at the Darien NB service area yesterday, to charge my Model Y for the very first time (I took delivery yesterday afternoon). Pretty sure I made the parking lot attendant's night when I pulled into a stall nose-first...he laughed out loud and then reminded me that the cord isn't long enough to charge that way... [facepalm] I had felt so "cool" in my new car up until that point...quite the ego bruise! Ha!

 

[juliusa]

I stopped at the Darien NB service area yesterday, to charge my Model Y for the very first time (I took delivery yesterday afternoon). Pretty sure I made the parking lot attendant's night when I pulled into a stall nose-first...he laughed out loud and then reminded me that the cord isn't long enough to charge that way... [facepalm] I had felt so "cool" in my new car up until that point...quite the ego bruise! Ha!

There are 3 nose-in stalls there.

 

[tinkererguy]

Here's some friendly tips for Supercharging etiquette:
Top 10 Tesla Supercharger Etiquette - Unwritten Rules To Live By.
with the suggestion that nose-in is mostly for Model Xs with a trailer, which makes sense, but pretty uncommon.

I recently ran across a Supercharger stall that wasn't working. In daylight, it's hard to see if the Tesla logo was illuminated. So I swing the (thinner V3) cable up over the charger and plugged the lose end into the charger's usual receptacle, thinking others would know to avoid this stall. Yet, with 4 stalls all next to each other available, a Model 3 driver back in to the one with the coiled up cable, and finds it doesn't work. The Tesla owner then puts the cable back in the normal easy way to hang it, but now the next driver that comes along won't know it doesn't work. Sigh, we try.

Overall, I've done a lot of Supercharging these past 30K miles, and very rarely have any issues at all.

 

[North75]

I stopped at the Darien NB service area yesterday, to charge my Model Y for the very first time (I took delivery yesterday afternoon). Pretty sure I made the parking lot attendant's night when I pulled into a stall nose-first...he laughed out loud and then reminded me that the cord isn't long enough to charge that way... [facepalm] I had felt so "cool" in my new car up until that point...quite the ego bruise! Ha!

There's a parking lot attendant at a rest stop?

 

[CT7Summits]

There are 3 nose-in stalls there.

Yes! Those are the old ones. But as you probably already know, "ICE" drivers like to pull their cars into those spots (ugh). I figured maybe the newer chargers were faster, too!

 

[CT7Summits]

There's a parking lot attendant at a rest stop?

It's Darien, CT, so of course there are! Just kidding, he was one of the service area workers who picks up trash, etc. So maybe "attendant" was a reach.

 

[CT7Summits]

Here's some friendly tips for Supercharging etiquette:
Top 10 Tesla Supercharger Etiquette - Unwritten Rules To Live By.
with the suggestion that nose-in is mostly for Model Xs with a trailer, which makes sense, but pretty uncommon.

I recently ran across a Supercharger stall that wasn't working. In daylight, it's hard to see if the Tesla logo was illuminated. So I swing the (thinner V3) cable up over the charger and plugged the lose end into the charger's usual receptacle, thinking others would know to avoid this stall. Yet, with 4 stalls all next to each other available, a Model 3 driver back in to the one with the coiled up cable, and finds it doesn't work. The Tesla owner then puts the cable back in the normal easy way to hang it, but now the next driver that comes along won't know it doesn't work. Sigh, we try.

Overall, I've done a lot of Supercharging these past 30K miles, and very rarely have any issues at all.

Thank you!!! These tips are really helpful for a newbie like me. Appreciate it!!

 

[kendallpb]

[facepalm] I had felt so "cool" in my new car up until that point...quite the ego bruise! Ha!

Heh, thanks for making me smile. Welcome to the (Tesla) club!

 

[tinkererguy]

It's a friendly bunch around here!
I see you're also in Connecticut, you might be interested in this local Tesla Club:
EV Club of CT
with my article detailing my visit to that club here, and video here.

 

[juliusa]

It's a friendly bunch around here!
I see you're also in Connecticut, you might be interested in this local Tesla Club:
EV Club of CT
with my article detailing my visit to that club here, and video here.

Here is the CT Tesla Owner's club: Tesla Owners Club of Connecticut - TeslaClubCT.com

 

[ctaylorgha]

This is not a fast charger. 34kw at 140 miles an hour. Not quick

 

[EdA]

Battery cold?

 

[tinkererguy]

This is not a fast charger. 34kw at 140 miles an hour. Not quick

What was your initial state of charge, and was your battery preconditioned by setting the Supercharger as your destination in the onscreen navigation? See also Tesla’s Winter Driving Tips.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I've hit 200kW here in a November 2019 build Raven X.....

 

[JimmyB]

Staggeringly impressive parking at Darien SB yesterday. It was pretty busy, too. *smh*

 

[HankLloydRight]

This was Northbound a few days ago.

This woman pulled in, jumped out with two dogs and took them to the grassy area behind the SC. And yes, left her door open. There were dozens of other spots to the right of the SC... but no, she had to stop RIGHT THERE. I guess her two dogs couldn't wait the extra 20 seconds for her to park in a regular spot.

 

[juliusa]

Another update on Darien. Over the past two weeks they have removed the old V2 superchargers completely on the northbound and southbound sides.

 

[EdA]

First supercharger I ever used back in 2013 (Darien NB; SB wasn't operational!)

 

[juliusa]

First supercharger I ever used back in 2013 (Darien NB; SB wasn't operational!)

These were the pedestals back then. I think this was the second iteration of pedestals - cable was attached at top like they are now, but the pedestal is not lit.

I think this is the first iteration - Milford Northbound.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Yeah, Newark,DE was the same way. The 1st gen SC back then had a real homemade feel to them (because they were!)