Meijer - West Ann Arbor, MI

 

Introduction

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

Business/Location Name	Meijer
Address	5645 Jackson Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Network	Greenlots
Station Details	2 - 50kW Stations, 4 - Level 2 Stations
Cost	$0.30 per kWh

This was the final stop on our recent I-94 corridor charging site investigation trip.  This site is on the west side of Ann Arbor, MI and can be found at exit 169, Zeeb Rd. The chargers are at the local Meijer store, relatively close to the highway.  This stop and many of the newer Meijer locations is managed by the Greenlots EV charging network.  Greenlots is directly affiliated with the Shell Oil Company, showing how the gas companies are trying to keep up with the switch to electric.

Accessibility

The chargers here were not at the Meijer gas station as we first thought.  They’re ocated on the far right hand side of the parking lot as you are facing the Meijer.  The site is only 0.5 miles from the highway.  The straight in parking works well for Elektra, but means that vehicles with rear charging points, like the BMW i3 in the photo, need to back into the charger parking spots.  This arrangement also blocks the ability to charge while pulling a trailer.   It is nice that the chargers are near the front of the store, but being at the far edge of the parking lot means that these spots will surely remain open for those in need of a charge.

 

Amenities

Meijer is one of those one stop stores with a little of everything you need.  The Meijer gas station is very close with the basics.  The all-important food options: Arby’s, Taco Bell, Panda Express, Wendy’s, Starbucks and Burger King.  Nearby shopping includes an AutoZone, and a CVS.  There is no covering for the chargers, so they could easily become icy or blocked by snow in the wintertime. 

 

Concentration

The 2 DC Fast Chargers and 4 Level 2 outlets are plenty for this site.  Those travelling and using this site will likely not face any problems with finding an available charger at this site.  I would like to see more chargers along the I-94 corridor, but this is more of a shopping stop than a road trip stop.

 

Location

This is an excellent multipurpose site.  The closeness to the highway makes for a good road trip stop, and being a large shopping center makes for a convenient charging stop while shopping (especially on the Level 2 chargers that are free for the first hour).  Being on the western edge of Ann Arbor travel into or out of the Ann Arbor/Detroit area is well supported by this site.

 

Speed

These Tritium DC fast charging units can do up to 50kW charging.  This is good for the existing Bolt EV and other older EVs that have smaller battery packs and slower charge rates.  Newer EVs all have faster charging and larger batteries.  As an example with the new Mach-E charging at 100kW for some other stations, if that vehicle were to charge here, it would take twice as long.

 

Summary

What would a charging adventure be without issues at least one stop?  We pulled up to the chargers, and I parked in front of the right hand side charger.  Plugging in, I opened the Greenlots app to start the charging session.  After selecting the charger, I was confronted with a spinning circle showing authorizing, and then eventually it timed out and the charging never started.  So, I moved over to the next charger, and tried again.  Unfortunately, the same error presented itself on this charger as well.  I called the charge network provider and in less than one minute, I was speaking with a helpful gentleman from Greenlots.  He was able to get our charger reset and initialized our charging session.  While I was on the phone with him, an BMW i3 driver arrived and plugged in.  We informed him we were on the phone with Greenlots and also requested to reset the other charger for him.  In a short time period, we had both vehicles successfully charging.

With Elektra charging, we headed inside the Meijer for a restroom break and electronics section investigation.  This Meijer had no music for sale, we could not find Vinyl, Tape, or even a single CD for sale.

 

 

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $3.87

Total kWh: 12.89

Time: 17 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 45.49 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.30

 

Total Score (Max 44)	Score Percentage	Accessibility Total	Amenities Total	Concentration	Location	Speed
24	54.5	4	8	6	4	2

 

Trip summary:

Total Paid: $14.46

Total kWh: 52.18

Total Miles: 244