Godot Is Soon To Arrive

This is the level 3 version of a post about out-of-service level 2 chargers from April 21st.

Level 3 chargers have been sitting lonely, forlornly, and non-functionally at several of the service areas on our major highways. And its been that way for roughly 4 years. We now have the background and going forward plans. This post refers to the non-Tesla chargers.

The chargers at the service centers we are aware of, specifically the I-95 service center in Darien and the Merritt Parkway northbound service center in Greenwich, were originally installed by Eversource/DEEP working with the Department of Transportation in 2016. They have been out of service (“decommissioned”) since 2018. I’m sure there is detail we don’t know since those chargers were barely ever operational.

New Level 3 Fast Charger Installations

The state leases the service centers to a company called Project Service, LLC, based in New Haven, which also manages them. PS responded to our inquiry, saying that they are working with a new partner to install new DCFC equipment at their plazas. There are 6 sites where work is underway and installation is expected to be complete sometime during this summer. The 6 service areas are I-95 Fairfield (both directions), I-95 Madison (both directions), Merritt Parkway New Canaan (southbound), and Merritt Parkway Greenwich (northbound).

There are also Tesla chargers at PS service centers. These have been operational and are in the process of being upgraded.

DOT Survey

A larger, separate initiative, deploying the funding that is coming from the federal infrastructure legislation is being managed by the Department of Transportation and is in the planning stages. These funds are going to support level 3 chargers along major highway corridors. Public input is being sought as plans are further developed. There is currently a survey live on their website here. (It is a very high-level survey that takes 2 minutes.) The link will remain live through June 3rd.

Chargers for DOT and Public

Those driving by the CT Department of Transportation campus in Newington may have noticed a bank of chargers looking like the one in the picture at the top of the post (thank you to Paul Braren for the photo).

There are chargers in front of the headquarters building. These will be open to DOT employees, visitors, and the public. There are other chargers in the visitors parking lot (https://www.plugshare.com/location/354128) and in the motor pool lot for state fleet vehicles.

These chargers are manufactured by Enfield, CT company EVSE, LLC. As you can see from the photo, they have a retractable cable, a nice feature which helps avoid the damage that can happen to chargers where the cable is manually wrapped, but in practice is often left on the ground, susceptible to damage.

EVs in the state fleet and EV chargers is the kind of holiday gift we want to receive. The chargers will be turned on by the beginning of January.