Downtown - Owosso

 Introduction

Welcome to my Charging Site Reviews.  One of the main reasons I decided to start a blog was to share information with others about Electric Car Charging locations.

Business/Location Name	Downtown Parking Lot
Address	113 W Main St, Owosso, MI 48867
Network	ChargePoint
Station Details	2 Stations (62.5kW)
Cost	$0.35 per kWh

The Owosso Downtown Parking Lot is in downtown Owosso as the name applies.  This charging set up is a destination charger, not a travel charger.  These units are here for charging vehicles while customers are going to the local businesses, and this makes sense for the available speeds from these unlinked units.  This station opened in April 2022.

Accessibility

This station is in the corner of the parking lot with tight spacing.  Taking M-52 (Main St.) south from the freeway exits, the gas station for this stop is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of M-52 and Lansing Rd.  From the stop light at this intersection, the chargers can be seen just past the ‘Welcome to Perry’ sign.  Since these chargers are placed in the corner of the parking lot closest to the road, it is very unlikely that a vehicle that was not charging would park in these spaces.  However, since the parking is ‘nose in’, there is no pull-through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.  

Amenities

Dining options include: Jade Buffet, Foster Coffee, Cakey Cakes and Bakery, Fortune House

Shopping options include: Gilbert’s Hardware, Aviator Jane, 

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  None

There is no covering for the chargers, so they could easily become icy or blocked by snow in the winter time.

Concentration

This is the baseline ChargePoint 2 charger site.  The parking is a pull/back into configuration.  Not much room for expansion at this site, nor much option to add covering to the parking spots.

Location

This is a good destination charging stop.  A way off of the highway.

50 Mile Loop.

100/150 Mile Range

Speed

ChargePoint is offering a middle of the pack solution targeted for the early adoption phase.  These independent units have a power or current limit of 62.5kW or 150A.  For vehicles above 500V, the current limit is 75A.  This is enough for a destination charge point where a driver could expect to spend some time, but not the correct solution for a travel corridor charger. 

Summary

The parking was tight and a Chevy Bolt had just pulled up to the right hand side charger when I arrived.  I waited for them to plug in and leave before backing Voltron into the left hand side charging stall.  The parking spots in this downtown lot are a little tight.  Once parked, when connecting to the vehicle I noted that the locking tab on the connector had been broken off.  This didn’t stop me from charging, but I wouldn’t want to leave my vehicle unattended with the broken lock as the connector could be removed by any passerby.  I appreciate charging options like this wherever they are placed and if I need to come to Owosso again I would look for an opportunity to use these again. 

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $3.05

Total kWh: 8.71 kWh

Time: 10 min

Average Charge Speed: 52.25 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.35

 

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
15	D	2	4	9

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com

West Michigan International - Kalamazoo

 Introduction

Site review from my trip bringing Voltron home from west Illinois.

Business/Location Name	West Michigan International
Address	5380 International Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49009
Network	None
Station Details	2 Stations (2 x 175kW – 350kW possible)
Cost	$0.41 per kWh

The West Michigan International station was the 2nd stop on my trip to bring Voltron home after buying him in west Illinois.  (This station opened in October 2022).  

Accessibility

The West Michigan International site is in the parking lot of this heavy-duty truck business.  The site is 1 mile from I-94 at exit 72.  North of the highway and in an office park, this site, compared to the nearest Electrify America location, is a quick on and off stop.  The EVSE placement does not allow for pull-through parking, but a wide-open parking lot offers lots of space.

Amenities

Dining options include: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, Culvers, Dunkin’, Wendy’s (All towards the highway, stop first)

Shopping options include: None

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  None

Concentration

This is a basic 2 station site.  The 2 stations are placed side to side and on this stop the right-hand side station was clearly marked as out of service.  This station is the pull/back into configuration, which would make charging with Elektra’s front port location easy, but those with fender locations may need to stretch the cables to make the connections.  I had to back into the spot due to the Voltron’s charging port location.

Location

This site on the supports I-94 and is close enough to potentially support US-131.  At about 150 miles to Detroit and 150 miles to Chicago, this is about as mid-point between those 2 cities as you can get.

50 Mile Loop:

100 to 150 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

This site is listed in PlugShare as a 350kW site and there are pictures of vehicles charging at close to these speeds, but I did not see this during my visit.  From the labels on the power cabinets, there are 2 – 375A/175kW units here that could be paired to generate the 350kW maximum power output.  The 165kW I averaged as shown below would equate to about 225A output limitation.

Summary

In planning for the trip, I was looking to break the drive up into 3 roughly equal length pieces.  With the first stop around Chicago, I knew that the next stop would be around Kalamazoo.  I have visited the Portage Electrify America site twice before and know that is not a great road trip site.  Having found this site, I was surprised even with the equipment limitations the good charging speeds I received.  The downside to this site is that there really isn’t anything to do, so for slower charging vehicles, this wouldn’t be a great stop.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $19.16

Total kWh: 46.733kWh

Time: 18 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 165kW

Cost per kWh: $0.41

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
24	C	4	3	17

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com

Orland Square Mall - Orland Park, IL

 Introduction

Site review from my trip bringing Voltron home from west Illinois.

Business/Location Name	Orland Square Mall
Address	288 Orland Square Dr, Orland Park, IL 60462
Network	Electrify America
Station Details	4 Stations (4 x 150kW)
Cost	$0.48 per kWh ($0.36 member price)

The Orland Square Mall Electrify America station was the 1st stop on my trip to bring Voltron home after buying him in west Illinois.  (This station opened in January 2021).  

Accessibility

The Orland Square Mall site is located at the edge of the parking lot.  The mall is 5 miles north of I-80 close the intersection of US-45 and US-6.  The units themselves are placed on the southern edge of the main parking lot.  It is quite a walk (0.2 miles) to get into the mall.  The 4 units are placed in a side-by-side layout with 4 available parking spots.  The EVSE placement does not allow for pull-through parking.

Amenities

Dining options include: Dave & Buster’s, BJ’s Restaurant, Panera Bread, Raising Cane’s

Shopping options include: Many stores in the mall.

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  None

Concentration

This is a baseline 4 charger site for Electrify America.  This station is the pull/back into configuration, which would make charging with Elektra’s front port location easy, but those with fender locations may need to stretch the cables to make the connections.  I had to back into the spot due to the Voltron’s charging port location.

Location

This site on the eastbound side of the turnpike, to the west of Toledo.  Positioned well to support neighborhood charging.  This is not well positioned as a road trip stop.  The location does provide charging coverage for the south side of Chicago.

50 Mile Loop:

150 to 200 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

Electrify America has chargers that support the fastest speeds available today.  This site only has 150kW stations.  The power provided here is what I would expect from a neighborhood charging location.  The made in May of 2020 Signet charging units may be rated at the higher 350kW speeds but the power cabinets feeding them are limited.

Summary

I should have opted to keep driving and go to the EA location in Indiana, but I was ready for a break and this site had reasonably good reviews to ensure that I would have a good charging session.  What makes this a bad road trip stop is the distance from the highway; at 5 miles the round-trip delay is quite large.  The real time status I was getting on the way to the site was that 3 of 4 stalls were in use, but on arrival only 2 were in use.  I plugged in and quickly got 170kW from a 150kW rated stall, which I expected was possible.  Checking the other 2 vehicles, a F-150 Lightening that had been fully charged for over 20 minutes and an EQE SUV that was just about to go into idle fees.  In my 11-minute stop I didn’t see anyone come to attend to the vehicles.  This seems like a reasonable neighborhood charging site, but the distance from any building entrance is off-putting.  Not sure I would plan to charge here again in the future unless it was critical to my travel plans.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $12.48

Total kWh: 26.176kWh

Time: 11 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 143kW

Cost per kWh: $0.48

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
22	C	4	5	13

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com