Introduction
A review from my road trip covering the US-23 corridor in Michigan.
Business/Location Name | Downtown - Saginaw |
Address | 113 S. Hamilton St, Saginaw, MI |
Network | ChargePoint |
Station Details | 2 Stations (62.5kW) |
Cost | Free |
The Downtown – Saginaw ChargePoint station was the 1st stop on my trip covering the US-23 corridor (North to South). This stop is in downtown Saginaw. These units opened in September 2021 and are supported by 3 other Level 2 charging locations in the downtown area.
Accessibility
The Ippel Parking Lot is in the middle of downtown Saginaw. This location is 4 miles away from US-23/I-75 exit 149, so it’s not a very quick on/off experience on a road trip. Since they’re in a downtown area those are a slow 4 miles. Once you’re near Court St. and Hamilton St, the parking lot is easy to find and the EVSEs are simple to locate. Since the parking is nose in, there is no pull through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.
Amenities
Dining options include: Jimmy John’s, Daniel’s Grill, Jake’s Old City Grill, Retro Rocks, Woody O’Brians, Oracle Brewing Company, Pasong’s Café, and many others.
Shopping options include: Phat Cat Guitars, Listening Room, Brasseur Electric Trains, Old Town Vault, and many others.
Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air): Sunoco gas station 0.2 miles away
Concentration
This is the standard double station layout for ChargePoint. This station is the pull/back into configuration, which makes charging with Elektra’s front port location easy, but those with fender locations may need to stretch the cables to make the connections.
Location
On the US-23 corridor this is the northernmost site within Michigan I visited on this trip. It’s about 110 miles from downtown Detroit, 90 miles from Ann Arbor, 133 miles from Gaylord, 190 miles from Mackinaw City. The distance from the highway makes this a stop to avoid when on a road trip.
Speed
ChargePoint is offering a middle of the pack solution targeted for the early adoption phase. At the time of my trip these units were not properly paired, and thus limited to 62.5kW or 150A. The mismatch in performance from one site to another that looks exactly the same will only lead to more confusion as less informed customers enter the market. For my trip this did not matter much as the battery pack in Electra was not warm enough to accept a faster charge, so I used the free charging session to help warm up the pack.
Summary
I got a quaint downtown vibe during this stop. With plenty to do and see in the nearby areas, it’s a good area to enjoy a longer stop. With the 62.5kW top charge limit, you will be stopped here for a while in most cases anyways. I wonder what kind of stop this would be at night, as most of the shops nearby seem like they would close early, with only Retro Rocks Pub having hours that extended to later at night. Sometimes free is a great deal, unfortunately free didn’t help the score of this site. It scored near the bottom of the rankings, unsurprisingly similar in score to the other free sites I have reviewed.
What I paid for this stop:
Total Cost: $0.00
Total kWh: 16.79 kWh
Time: 19 minutes
Average Charge Speed: 53kW (calculated)
Cost per kWh: $0.00 per kWh
Total Score (Max 44) | Score | Accessibility | Amenities | Usability |
19 | D | 3 | 7 | 9 |
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