Supercharger - Southington, CT

[WoodburyMan]

I stopped by today (Sun 8/13/2023) and they are no longer roped off, however they're still inactive. I'm a bit saddened to find they do not have Magic Dock connectors, after hearing they were resuming their upgrade of existing stations finally. (I live a bit over a mile down the road, and have a Bolt EUV and it would be useful if I ever needed to charge faster than my home 24amp Charger). None the less a good addition.

The 4 ChargePoint (2 x Dual Handle Chargers) were also inactive, the screens were off and the J1772 connectors were tied up and wrapped. A bit saddened that these are just J1772 / Level 2 C6000 chargers and not CCS1 DCFC chargers too, given they have 3-Phase and everything they'd need to do a DCFC ChargePoint as well since clearly the Tesla chargers have it.

I got some aerial shots as well for reference to where they are in the lot.

 

[Tdreamer]

Nice drone shots - thanks for sharing. MagicDock is not a generally deployed technology yet (and may never be - we'll have to wait and see). It's being deployed at select locations by Tesla, presumably as part of testing the technology as they continue to develop it. It's likely the same technology that will make it's appearance in the North American v4 supercharging posts when they begin deployment - hopefully by the end of the year, but again, only Tesla knows for sure.

The ChargePoints are installed with the superchargers as part of a contracted configuration for Target site installs. We're starting to see some Tesla L2 chargers co-installed with superchargers in some parts of the country too. In time, that will likely become more normal and replace the chargepoints.

From your photos, the site is still missing it's transformer, so until that shows up, Tesla can't come and commission the site.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Nice drone shots - thanks for sharing. MagicDock is not a generally deployed technology yet (and may never be - we'll have to wait and see). It's being deployed at select locations by Tesla, presumably as part of testing the technology as they continue to develop it. It's likely the same technology that will make it's appearance in the North American v4 supercharging posts when they begin deployment - hopefully by the end of the year, but again, only Tesla knows for sure.

The ChargePoints are installed with the superchargers as part of a contracted configuration for Target site installs. We're starting to see some Tesla L2 chargers co-installed with superchargers in some parts of the country too. In time, that will likely become more normal and replace the chargepoints.

From your photos, the site is still missing it's transformer, so until that shows up, Tesla can't come and commission the site.

Well, Tesla has "won" two locations from the NEVI funding in Maine, Augusta (at the Marketplace Mall, same mall as the current Supercharger location), and Rockland (at the Hannaford). NEVI rules say they have to CCS, card readers and SMS/automatic telephone enabling (which implies some kind of screen). Given what looks like a widespread shift to NACS coming, I"m thinking they'll _want_ to use Magic Dock to provide the CCS compatibility. (I've used it a couple of times at Brewster, and while not perfect, it worked.)

 

[Tdreamer]

Well, Tesla has "won" two locations from the NEVI funding in Maine, Augusta (at the Marketplace Mall, same mall as the current Supercharger location), and Rockland (at the Hannaford). NEVI rules say they have to CCS, card readers and SMS/automatic telephone enabling (which implies some kind of screen). Given what looks like a widespread shift to NACS coming, I"m thinking they'll _want_ to use Magic Dock to provide the CCS compatibility. (I've used it a couple of times at Brewster, and while not perfect, it worked.)

Agreed - for NEVI compliance it will probably dictate the site will use the new v4 charging posts.

 

[cwts]

I'm a bit saddened to find they do not have Magic Dock connectors…

It’s doubtful there will be many more of them installed. Why risk giving CCS a chance to hang on?

 

[WoodburyMan]

It’s doubtful there will be many more of them installed. Why risk giving CCS a chance to hang on?

They'll be rolling them out to pretty much every station. They've signed contractual obligations with GM, Ford and others to provide charging for all current CCS vehicles. GM won't have NACS on vehicles until 2025+, and will be providing

 

[WoodburyMan]

It’s doubtful there will be many more of them installed. Why risk giving CCS a chance to hang on?

They'll be rolling them out to pretty much every station. They've signed contractual obligations with GM, Ford, and others, which includes current all current and future CCS vehicles. GM and Ford won't start putting NACS on their vehicles until after 2025, so there will be millions if not 10's of millions of CCS EV's out there that they will be supporting, and Tesla is set to make a lot more profit support these CCS vehicles too.

Tesla's release of their Universal Destination Chargers with J1772 + NACS connectors, much like magic dock, in the last month shows CCS/J1772 will be around and supported for a long time and that Tesla realizes this too.

 

[Tdreamer]

Southington update - still waiting for a transformer. And some work needed on the switchgear too.

 

[cwts]

They'll be rolling them out to pretty much every station. They've signed contractual obligations with GM, Ford, and others, …

GM, Ford, and the others will be selling adapters to their customers so they can use Tesla’s network.

 

[cwts]

Any movement on this one? I may be in the area in December and the location would perfect for me.

 

[roto]

Any movement on this one? I may be in the area in December and the location would perfect for me.

I was there last weekend. No change. Looks like it's still awaiting a transformer.

 

[Pakman47]

I live in Ocala, Florida and have a 2021 Y LR, and am in Bristol for a few weeks. I spoke with a former neighbor who works for Eversource as a field installation supervisor. He said that Eversource and UI are having trouble finding transformers. He said it is so bad that in some cases they are using multiple overhead transformers bundled together in underground enclosures. New residential developments take priority. FWIW, he said Florida isn't having the same problem. I wonder why.

 

[Tdreamer]

There is something up with this site beyond the transformer being missing. The switchgear / site controller cabinet is not mounted on it's pad, and as pictured in Supercharger - Southington, CT was leaning a bit. I've never seen this before at the many construction sites visited or photos shared by others. If the site were just waiting for a transformer it would have been mounted on it's pad and all buttoned up. It could be as simple as that cabinet needing to be replaced, and the contractor being busy enough elsewhere deciding to defer taking care of it until they hear the transformer delivery is scheduled. The company that did this install is currently known to be doing supercharger builds in Lynnfield, Foxborough and Provincetown, MA - and perhaps elsewhere too.

 

[labachlr]

Does anyone have a status update on this one? What’s taking so long?

 

[cwts]

Wow. We’re coming up on two years since this began, and EverSource is still holding it up. Shameful.

 

[chisss]

I just googled for this to see if anyone had any info. It’s crazy it’s been sitting there for so long and not completed. Makes it look bad.

 

[PUYU]

It seems like purely waiting on Neversource.

 

[cwts]

Two years and counting…
I guess Eversource wants to set a record.

 

[tanker5]

I was there Sunday. No change. Empty transformer pad. Didn’t take pictures because they would look the exact same as the pictures that were shared months ago.

 

[jpbott]

On 3/23 there was a Model 3 plugged into one of the Southington superchargers. Not sure why if they aren't active yet.