Marathon - Houghton Lake

 Introduction

A review from my last big road trip of 2022 where I drove north and then west.

Business/Location Name	Marathon - Houghton Lake
Address	9252 W Lake City Rd, Houghton Lake, MI
Network	ChargePoint
Station Details	2 Stations (62.5kW/125kW linked)
Cost	$0.35 per kWh

The Marathon - Houghton Lake ChargePoint station was the 4th stop on my trip up north.  (This station opened in September 2022)

Accessibility

This charging site is along US-127 at exit 194 for M-55/Lake City Road.  Less than 0.5 miles to the east, the Marathon is on the north side of the road.  The EVSE units are behind the building on the east side.  The parking for this site is beyond the paved parking lot of the gas station.  Beware of potholes and muddy ground around the units.  The wide spacing would allow for relatively easy trailer access.

Amenities

Dining options include: McDonalds, KFC, Subway

Shopping options include: None - Several gas station markets nearby

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Marathon gas station at this location.

Concentration

This is the standard double station layout for ChargePoint.  While primarily designed to be pulled up for connection, the area next to these units is wide open allowing you to pull up in any orientation that works best.  Note the location of your charging port for how to pull up for the easiest connection.  The side placed EVSE doesn’t always make for the best parking spacing for front port vehicles, however, spacing is quite generous at this location.  The parking arrangement could allow a vehicle to pull up and charge while pulling a trailer.

Location

On the US-127 corridor between Gaylord and Lansing.  This stop is 125 miles north from Lansing, 130 miles from Grand Rapids, and 200 miles from Detroit.  From Detroit, this stop would be a stretch to reach for most modern vehicles.  Vehicles with bigger batteries and longer ranges will likely charge faster than these units can actually support.  With 110 miles to Mackinaw City and just 70 miles to Traverse City, this stop could be an excellent starting point for any destinations in the northern lower peninsula.  

Speed

ChargePoint is offering a middle of the pack solution targeted for the early adoption phase.  These units can output 125kW or 200A.  When not paired, or when both are in use the current limit is 62.5kW or 150A.  While this does not match the most powerful units on the market, it will support reasonably fast charging for one vehicle.  

Summary

I arrived at the Marathon in Houghton Lake a little after 1pm and at 33% battery with 80 miles estimated range. According to the dash display I had been driving for 4 hours and I was ready for a break.  I decided to stop here and do a longer charging session to hopefully make my future stops faster.  Looking ahead the next couple of stations had per minute cost, another reason I opted to stay at this site and pay the reasonable per kWh costs.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $9.97

Total kWh: 28.48 kWh

Time: 28 minutes

Average Charge Speed:  61.03 kW (calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.35

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
24	C	6	5	13

Public Parking - Grayling

 Introduction

A review from my last big road trip of 2022 where I drove north and then west.

Business/Location Name	Public Parking - Grayling
Address	405 Cedar St. Grayling, MI
Network	Red E Charging
Station Details	3 Stations (50kW)
Cost	$0.45 kWh (Per PlugShare)

The Public Parking - Grayling Red E Charging station was the 3rd stop on my trip heading up north.  (This station opened in September of 2021)

Accessibility

The Red E location in Grayling is 1.2 miles from I-75 exit 254 if youre approaching from the south, and 1.5 miles from I-75 exit 256 if you're approaching from the north.  T'he EVSEs are on the edge of the parking lot and visible from the main road.  The side-by-side diagonal pull in parking does not allow for easy access with a trailer.

Amenities

Dining options include: Grayling Restaurant, Paddle Hard Brewing, 989 BBQ, Bear’s Den Pizzeria, Two River Deli and more

Shopping options include: Multiple small and large shops within the downtown Grayling area.

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

Concentration

The 3 DC Fast Chargers are barely sufficient for this site.  Those traveling and using this site will likely not face any problems finding an available charger.  I would have liked to see more units here, but given current utilization rates, this seems like a reasonable initial installation.

Location

On the I-75 corridor in downtown Grayling, this site is positioned as a road trip rest stop.  Additionally, it can serve as a local visit stop charge-up location.  Distances from major travel locations include: 205 miles from Detroit, 150 miles from Lansing, 160 miles from Grand Rapids, 55 miles to Traverse City, 90 miles to Mackinaw City.  This would serve as a centralized location for northern Michigan travel, if only it was closer to the highway.  I can see this site as very useful for those local to the location while shopping and a good jumping off point for those coming to and from the Grayling area.

Speed

These Tritium DC fast charging units can do up to 50kW charging.  They have a max 500V output and max 125A current output.  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.  I am interested to see what these units do when they are charging some of the higher voltage vehicles like Ioniq 5, or Lucid Air.

Summary

No one can be mad about a free charging session unless the site becomes full and people are just sitting and waiting to fully charge.  These EVSE have some supplementary antennas attached, so this likely indicates that there's challenges in the area connecting to wireless network resources, and processing payments.  One negative is that this site is in a public parking lot.  With no business or other entity to ‘own’ the site, I worry about long term maintenance and support.  As always, I was surprised to see another car charging as this tends to be a rare occurrence on my trips.  

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $0.00

Total kWh: Unknown

Time: 9 minutes

Average Charge Speed: Unknown

Cost per kWh: $0.00

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
22	C	3	6	13

Marathon - Waters

 Introduction

A review from my last big road trip of 2022 where I drove north and then west.

Business/Location Name	Marathon - Waters
Address	900 Marlette Rd, Waters, MI 49797
Network	ChargePoint
Station Details	2 Stations (62.5kW/125kW linked)
Cost	$0.29 per minute

The Marathon - Waters ChargePoint station was the 2nd stop on my trip heading up north.  (This station opened in January 2022)

Accessibility

This Marathon gas station in Waters, MI is right off I-75 at exit 270. On Marlette Rd, the gas station is visible from the northbound exit ramp, making this a very quick stop from the highway. Definitely likely to get enough energy to make it to the chargers from a good regen slow down on the exit ramp, so while likely not the plan, this would be a stop you could easily come to with next to no battery remaining. The EVSE units are behind the gas station building on the east side of the parking lot, and the EVSE placement does allow for some pull-through parking, making this a potential stop for those pulling a trailer.

Amenities

Dining options include: Gobblers of Waters

Shopping options include: None

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Marathon gas station at this location.

Concentration

This is the standard double station layout for ChargePoint.  While primarily designed to be pulled up to for a connection, the area next to these units is wide open allowing you to access them in any orientation that works best for you.  The side placed EVSE doesn’t always make for the best parking spacing for front port vehicles, however, spacing is quite generous at this location.  The parking arrangement could allow a vehicle to pull up and charge while pulling a trailer.

Location

On the I-75 corridor between Gaylord and Grayling, this stop is 165 miles north from Lansing and 180 miles from Grand Rapids.  At 230 miles from Detroit, this stop would be a stretch to reach for most modern vehicles.  Vehicles with bigger batteries and thus longer ranges will likely charge faster than these units can support.  With just 70 miles to Mackinaw City, this stop would be an excellent starting point for any destinations in the northern lower peninsula.  

Speed

ChargePoint is offering a middle of the pack solution targeted for the early adoption phase.  These units can output 125kW or 200A.  When not paired, or when both are in use the current limit is 62.5kW or 150A.  While this does not match the most powerful units on the market, it will support reasonably fast charging for one vehicle.   I tested both units and confirmed full power output.

Summary

This kind of stop is how to get good electric car fast charging coverage.  The map below shows a 50 mile radius around this location.  You can see how much of the northern lower peninsula this site can support.  This site could improve by changing to a fairer per-kilowatt-hour charging method.  I had an excellent charging experience here and will likely use this site again for future charging trips that take me even farther north.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $2.61

Total kWh: 7.93

Time: 10 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 47.58 (calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.33

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
27	B	7	4	16

Dean Arbour Ford - West Branch

 Introduction

A review from my last big road trip of 2022 where I drove north and then west.

Business/Location Name	Dean Arbour Ford - West Branch
Address	3382 E Michigan 55, West Branch, MI 48661
Network	Shell Recharge
Station Details	2 Stations (2 x 175kW)
Cost	$0.25 kWh

I typically don’t visit or review dealership location charge points, but this site seems to be completely public and the only relationship with the dealer is the location.  (This station opened in April of 2022)

Accessibility

This stop is 1 mile off I-75 at exit 215 (M-55 East).  The Ford dealership is 1 mile to the east of the highway.  Once you enter the dealership parking lot there is good signage directing you to the back right of the parking lot.  This location is not trailer friendly.

Amenities

Dining options include: None

Shopping options include: None

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

There is a Meijer directly off the highway that you pass on the way to this location, but it's not walkable from the charger so I didn't include it in the Amenities list.

Concentration

There are two charging stations here. They are 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, and these are very short cables, so make sure to pull up nice and close.  Unfortunately, the location in the parking lot does not allow for easy connection with a trailer.

Location

On the I-75 corridor on the north side of Grand Rapids, this site is well positioned as a road trip rest stop.  This site is 170 miles from Detroit and 150 miles from Lansing, thus putting it in a comfortable range for most modern EVs with 200+ mile range.  This gives drivers another 70 miles to Grayling, 124 miles to Mackinaw and 95 miles to Traverse City, allowing most trips north to be completed with a single stop.

Speed

Shell Recharge has installed two 175kW units.  Even though the label shows these dispensers are capable of 500A output, based on the fact they are listed as 175kW, I did some research and found that with a single power cabinet connected they're limited to 375A.  This means 400V vehicles can expect to get a max of 150kW at this location.  While not the fastest units on the market, these two will provide plenty of power to anyone doing a road trip into northern Michigan.

Summary

While this site scores very low (only 18 points for a D), it is affected mostly by the total lack of amenities, which is one of the reasons I avoid vehicle dealership sites.  Outside of the lack of things to do around this site, it is well positioned for the standard north or south trip along I-75.  Drivers can stop earlier in Bay City and charge faster at the Electrify America location, or if drivers have the range they could stretch to Gaylord, but then they would be limited to the 50kW units there.  I stayed here longer than ABRP planned but that was mostly to let the battery warm up to ensure faster future stops on the rest of the trip.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $8.10

Total kWh: 32.38 kWh

Time: 35 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 55 kW 

Cost per kWh: $0.25

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
19	D	3	0	16