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Supercharger - West Hartford, CT
- Thread starter Cottonwood
- Start date
Drove up Friday evening with five of eight spots ICE'd. I called Tesla and the police. The police were actually happy I called. They said this was a new question for them. However, they police said there is no ticket they would be able to give. But they were willing to come out and speak to the owners of the vehicles.
I'm surprised they will be so many spots ICEd, I've been there twice (1 spot ICEd both times from same vehicle) and it's a location that's right behind a restaurant and it's away from almost all mall activity, let alone thousands of spots to park.
It might be employees of the said restaurant that park there, who knows...
It might be employees of the said restaurant that park there, who knows...
Hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but wrongly parking in electric car parking spaces is not illegal, it's just against the policy of certain owners of private property (which is why they'll contact a private towing company to tow the cars of offenders). I don't believe this issue is something police should address on private property.
Wrongly parking in a handicapped space, however, is illegal since those kind of spots are written into law. So in that case, police should be involved.
With the snowbanks and it being prime time (8pm Friday night) every spot is taken generally.
One of the charging spots was filled with a snowbank (literally ICE-d) the last time I was there.
He didn't mention how many other Tesla's were there if any.
I drove down there for the fun of it to find out where they were and get a sense of the area. I found they were awkward to get into (I didn't even try) and the road is somewhat busy. When I drove by, two of the spaces were ICE'd. It's a weird location. I do find that fact that police were going to speak to them intriguing however. I think it needs to be explained that while superchargers aren't as prolific as gas stations. Use of them is literally a matter of being to make it home for some.
Perhaps we need to draft up a polite little card to put in the window of the ICE vehicle that explains this?
Perhaps we need to draft up a polite little card to put in the window of the ICE vehicle that explains this?
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It depends on the jurisdiction. In some states (CA, WA) or towns (Hanover, NH), ICE'ing a (public) charging spot will get you ticketed or towed.
Washington Passes Law to Fine Motorists $124 for ICE Vehicles Parking in EV Only Spaces | Inside EVs
Hanover NH charging station? - Page 3
The Hanover policy applies to parking in a city-owned garage; we would need to have another public charging spot to see if they would enforce that rule more broadly.
Charged by myself (plus one ICEd spot) on the way south Saturday, then with three others (and the same ICE) late Sunday afternoon. Had some Tesla time with a couple of passersby on Saturday, and talked to two of the three owners (of discontinued brown and green colors) on Sunday. My son took a panorama of the scene, as we learned about the only green Signature S in existence!
I used the 6.2 Trip Planner for the drives down and back, and have to say it needs some work. On the way down, even though I was starting with 80+% charge it wanted me to stop at Auburn for 30 or 40 minutes, then Greenwich for 5 before my destination 10 miles further in Larchmont, NY. I ignored the Auburn directions and waited to see what it would say after passing Exit 10 - it actually wanted me to get off at Sturbridge and go back to Auburn, even if I cancelled the trip and re-entered my destination. So I just put West Hartford into the Nav the old way, from the Supercharger list. Auburn didn't make sense from multiple perspectives: timing (not long after starting out from Cambridge), charging speed (would have been over 60% so slower charging), and amenities (I've never been there, but doesn't seem to be the most attractive mall around). Instead we shopped at Trader Joe's and got drinks at Starbucks.
On the way home it wasn't much better. I had no destination charging so we topped up for 10 minutes at Greenwich, arrived at West Hartford with about 7%, and then charged up to 96% over an early dinner at Red Robin. Trip Planner wanted me to stop at Greenwich and then Auburn.
And when I plugged in a trip to Burlington, VT. it directed me to Hooksett South rather than North, which is quite a bit out of the way...
I used the 6.2 Trip Planner for the drives down and back, and have to say it needs some work. On the way down, even though I was starting with 80+% charge it wanted me to stop at Auburn for 30 or 40 minutes, then Greenwich for 5 before my destination 10 miles further in Larchmont, NY. I ignored the Auburn directions and waited to see what it would say after passing Exit 10 - it actually wanted me to get off at Sturbridge and go back to Auburn, even if I cancelled the trip and re-entered my destination. So I just put West Hartford into the Nav the old way, from the Supercharger list. Auburn didn't make sense from multiple perspectives: timing (not long after starting out from Cambridge), charging speed (would have been over 60% so slower charging), and amenities (I've never been there, but doesn't seem to be the most attractive mall around). Instead we shopped at Trader Joe's and got drinks at Starbucks.
On the way home it wasn't much better. I had no destination charging so we topped up for 10 minutes at Greenwich, arrived at West Hartford with about 7%, and then charged up to 96% over an early dinner at Red Robin. Trip Planner wanted me to stop at Greenwich and then Auburn.
And when I plugged in a trip to Burlington, VT. it directed me to Hooksett South rather than North, which is quite a bit out of the way...
Something is wrong if you topped up in Greenwich and arrived in West Hartford with only 7% charge. It is only 86 miles between the two. I assume you did not get many miles added while in Greenwich charging.
By the way - The car in West Hartford parked in the spot closest to the transformer is an employee car and is always there. I guess he figures if it is fully ICEd, he'd just move it. My issue is that it invites more ICE cars to park there. Eventually it will be a problem.
Nikxice
Active Member
I talked with the manager of the Red Robin today around 3 pm. My intention was to suggest possibly changing the angled parking lines. This would discourage head-in parking by other vehicles and therefore reduce some ICE-ing. I was surprised by his response. No one has complained about ICE-ing at this SC location?
He stated that 2 spots (out of the 8) will always be available for charging. Yikes! Obviously if this holds up, it will soon clash with the growing number of Tesla vehicles on the road.
He stated that 2 spots (out of the 8) will always be available for charging. Yikes! Obviously if this holds up, it will soon clash with the growing number of Tesla vehicles on the road.
We stopped in Greenwich for 10 minutes max - just long enough to get the energy trip view to show what I felt was a comfortable buffer (7%) on arrival at West Hartford. My prior charge was in West Hartford the day before, and I didn't plug in overnight
Two spots isn't helpful when there are four cars looking to charge, as there were Sunday afternoon. And Tesla didn't pay to build 8 so 2 would be available.
Nikxice
Active Member
Certainly a relevant point that affects users turnaround time.
Regarding SC parking for Tesla owners, the manager was basing the before mentioned '2 spots' on casual observation. He did not indicate this was a written policy. He told me that he usually never sees more than one or two cars charging at the same time. We know that this is not always the case and it will be less so in the future. I got the impression that he would be glad to assist any owner that needed charging, however that's a hassle that we'd all like to avoid.
I don't know what contractual obligation they might have with Tesla. I would guess that if this franchise has any discretion or control over the parking, they're likely to utilize the space to maximize restaurant traffic. Hope that there's a workable solution.
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