Trip Report: Southeast Michigan EVgo sites

 September 19, 2021 time for another network review trip.  This time we will check out all the EVgo stations in the metro Detroit area.  This route would take me to 8 single EVSE stops throughout the metro Detroit area.  As far as I have been able to determine, EVgo started as part of NRG Energy in around 2010.  Was sold to an investment firm in 2016 and was bought by US Power in 2019.  In July 2021, EVgo became publicly traded by reverse merger, with US Power maintaining a majority ownership.

Soon after going public, EVgo was involved in some controversy.  They acquired the company Recargo.  This is the company behind the popular charging site location and review application called PlugShare.  While the Recargo direction of the app was considered mostly neutral, the PlugShare user base is concerned on how the ownership change will impact the service.

EVgo was an early entrant to the electric vehicle charging service business.  The capability of my locally installed EVSE matches this in their functionality.  All of the units in the Detroit area are listed as 50kW, but in reality, they are limited by the current output.  These early BTC Power units can do 100-500 volts, but only a maximum of 100 amps.  So, the max output can only be seen if the EVSE is charging at max voltage.  For the Ann Arbor site, the EVgo app lists this unit as a BTC Fatboy 480V, which is different from all the other units in the area listed as BTC Fatboy 208V.  This should be related to the input power, but also seems to impact the output power, since this is the only site that was able to put out 125A, reaching near 44kW.  The build dates on most of the units is January 2015.  This means most of these entered service that year, making most sites 6 years old.  EV charging has changed a lot in these 6 years and these sites really don't keep up with new users' needs.

EVgo is working with partners, like GM, to install many new sites with newer equipment, but there are no signs that any of this investment is coming to the Midwest.

The age of the early equipment is also beginning to show, with reduced reliability and uptime.  Although the EVgo web site claims ‘more than 98% uptime’, my experience did not match.  Because of this, I have often heard of this network referred to as 'EV-no-go'.  Often the EVgo app is not trustworthy on the status of locations.  During my trip, 2 of 8 stations did not work, both still were offline 2 months later when I was writing this update.  1 of those 2 showed there was a problem in the app, the other gave no indication that I wouldn't be able to charge.  I hope that EVgo will work on some improvements locally, and there will be faster and reliable EVSE for years to come.

None of my network reviews are complete without some talk about pricing structure.  EVgo continues to use the old fashion method of charging by time spent charging, and not actually charging by the amount of electricity consumed.  This means that users will only want to be plugged into these chargers when they are getting peak charging speeds and disconnect as soon as speeds drop to avoid being charged more than is needed.  That said, EVgo as a fixed network does charge a consistent $0.35 per minute at all the Detroit area locations.  This differs from the ChargePoint network, where each of the operators sets their own price and the price can vary widely from site to site.  Still, I would like to see EVgo move to the agreed fairer price structure of charging per kWh.

 

     I need to start off by giving credit to EVgo for saving the initial pickup experience of Elektra.  From my intro story, Elektra was not fully charged when I arrived to pick her up.  A local EVgo station in Palatine, IL saved us and got Elektra charged up enough to complete my return trip smoothly.  Here I used 2 different 45-minute sessions, to charge up.  One of the quirks with EVgo is that they name each of the EVSE.  ‘JEREMIAH’ at the local Walgreens did the charging.  Adding 46.67kWh to the 64kWh battery pack while we completed all the paperwork.

     With all of this background, I started my lap of EVgo charge sites in Ferndale, MI.  To my surprise there was someone already charging at this stop.  One of the shortcomings of the local EVgo network is only one station per stop.  If I had needed to charge at this stop, I would have had to wait until the current user finished charging.  Nate was charging his Chevy Bolt.  His car was at about 50%.  He graciously let me take a picture of his car at the charger for my blog.  While I didn't officially charge at this site, I did see it in active use. The unit here in Ferndale is called 'SHELLIA'.  I was surprised at just how much use this site gets.

     After the quick stop in Ferndale, I was off to Trenton to find the charger named 'ROXANNE'.  Easy to spot at the front of the Dunkin' Donuts near the busy intersection of West and Allen roads.  This was my first charge of the trip, and I was disappointed to only get 35kW charging speed from a reported 50kW unit.  This is when I first found out about the downside of these older EVSE.  100 amps max current output.  With battery pack voltage in Elektra at 350V that means these units can only provide my car 35kW.  If I started charging with even lower state of charge and lower pack voltage, the charging would have maxed out at an even lower rate.  With plenty of charge and many more sites to visit on this trip, I didn't stick around long.  When I planned the trip, I looked at about 5 minutes per stop.  Having been to two locations, and seen two successes, I was very hopeful for a smooth trip with quick stops.

     Wondering if my negative bias towards EVgo was unfounded, I ventured onward.  My next attempt would restore my beliefs.  This stop was at Dunkin’ Donuts in Dearborn Heights.  I was not encouraged when the EVgo app showed the site as offline. But I wanted to give it a go anyway as I didn’t know how much to trust the information in the app.  I pulled up and parked next to the EVSE named ‘WILFRED’.  An initial look at the screen would not indicate to a driver that anything was wrong.  But any attempt to start the charge, either by the app or by my EVgo card was unsuccessful.  Checking the app in the beginning of November this site still shows under repair.  EVgo should at least put some message on the screen that indicates that they know this charger will not work to stop people from bothering to waste time and try to get a charge from a unit that looks like it is working.  I have no idea if EVgo has a plan to ever fix this issue.  A recent call to their support number indicated that they were waiting on parts from the manufacturer of the units, which would be BTC Power.  After a disappointing, if not unexpected stop I decided to give up after just a couple of attempts and move to the next location.

     Onward I headed west to a Mobile Gas Station w/ Dunkin’ Donuts.  This EVgo site in Beville is immediately off the I-94 exit, making for a quick road trip stop.  This EVSE is named ‘NICHOLE’.  Someone had pulled the emergency stop to try and let others know that this site was not working.  To confirm the situation, I reset the stop button and attempted to charge.  When that failed, I called the EVgo support number and worked through their trouble shooting steps.  After a reset from the EVgo end did not recover the ability of the EVSE to charge my car, I gave up on this site.  While later that day the site still showed available in the app, now a couple of months later the app does show this site as under repair.  I also confirmed that this site is waiting on parts from BTC Power.  

     After 2 failures, I was ready for a successful charging session.  The next stop on my loop took me to the south side of Ann Arbor and a Shell gas station just off of I-94.  Easy to spot in the street side corner of the parking lot, I was able to quickly pull up, plug in and get charging.  To my surprise, the charging didn’t limit to 35kW at this site, instead I was able to get 44kW.  Apparently, in some cases these units can output 125A, even if listed as only 100A.  ‘MARISOL’ was my favorite EVSE of the entire trip.  I spent a little longer here than I had scheduled, but with the fastest charge and following 2 failures in charging, I was happy to juice up a little longer.

     Next stop was at a charger named ‘RONALDO’ in Howell, MI.  Located at the southwest corner of the Shell gas station close to the I-96 highway exit.  Not easy to see from the main road.  Pulling up to this site, the side parking made for some challenge to position Elektra for easy connection.  According to the check-in on PlugShare, I missed a Harley Davidson Live Wire motorcycle charging at this location by just a couple of minutes.  I experienced no issues starting the charging session here and was back to the expected 35kW charging speed.  I only stayed for a quick stop, and then I was off on my way to complete my loop of EVgo charging sites.

     Now, headed east on I-96, I continued my route to the next stop.  The third Shell gas station in a row.  At the Beck Rd exit, I easily found the EVSE ‘TIFFANY’.  Same parking orientation and charging speeds are here as at the previous stop.  I stayed a little longer here totalling 10 minutes and getting a total of 5.8kWh of electricity.  If it was not a late afternoon stop, I probably would have taken advantage of either the Tim Hortons or Starbucks, both within easy walking distance, for a coffee and snack.  With this charge done, I had one final stop left before my trip was complete.

     The final stop on this trip took me east and then south on I-275 to Plymouth, MI.  This time the EVSE is placed directly in front of the BP gas station.  This may be the easiest to find EVSE of the whole trip.  Pulling up and plugging right in, I was able to start the session very quickly.  Since, there was no real need to charge, I stayed for only 7 minutes adding a small 4.05kWh of energy on my last stop.

     Overall, I think EVgo met my low expectations.  At 3 of the stops, I was not able to charge (2 out of service sites and one busy site).  I hope that EVgo will start to invest some additional time and money into the Detroit market to improve the offerings.  With this being the home of GM, and the recent announcement that they have expanded the agreement to install from 2750 stalls to 3250 stalls through 2025, one could hope some of this attention comes to the local area.  In the interim users that opt to use EVgo can expect both reliability and slow charging issues to continue.  For me, it will continue to be 'EV-no-go'.