Introduction
Mini Ann Arbor area charging site review trip.
Business/Location Name | Range USA - Ypsilanti |
Address | 660 James L Hart Parkway, Ypsilanti, MI |
Network | ZEF Energy |
Station Details | 1 Station (40kW 400V, 125A) |
Cost | $2 to connect and $0.35 per kWh |
The Range USA - Ypsilanti ZEF Energy station was the 1st stop on my initial charging trip of 2023. (This station opened in May 2023).
Accessibility
This Range USA, ZEF Energy site is located off I-94 at exit 183 and is 0.7 miles from the highway. Head south on Huron St. and then turn west onto James L Hart Pkwy. Passing a McDonald’s, a couple of hotels and a Kia dealership. Enter at the parking lot of the Range USA business. The actual charging unit is located on the left side of the building. The EVSE placement does not allow for pull-through parking. In this case one of the two parking spots for the EVSE was blocked by a pick-up truck.
Amenities
Dining options include: McDonald’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Tim Hortons, Leo’s Coney Island, K&D Bistro, Jet’s Pizza
Shopping options include: None
Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air): None
Concentration
This is currently a single station site. 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. Note that the CCS cable here was unusually thick and heavy, but the cable management here should allow for easy connection to most charging port locations. I do think this site is capable of charging 2 cars at the same time, one on the CCS connector and one on the CHAdeMO connector.
Location
This site is well positioned to support the I-94 corridor. 35 miles from downtown Detroit, 90 miles from Port Huron, 109 miles to Kalamazoo. Seems to be positioned more for local traffic around the Ann Arbor area than for a true road trip stop. There are also many other nearby charging sites that would be cheaper.
Speed
ZEF Energy has installed here the first Kempower unit that I have been able to test. These units are very popular in the Nordic countries, and seem to offer very high reliability. This particular install with only a single power cabinet was limited to 400V and 125A, but the dispenser is capable of 1000V and 300A. Not super powerful, but matching to a standard CPE250 unlinked install
Great screen that shows the power, voltage, current, and a note that the output is at the charger max.
Dispenser certification label.
Power cabinet certification label.
Summary
I really want to like this site. It is exciting to see new DCFC hardware go into the ground. I hope that this equipment proves as reliable as it is reported to be. The screens are great anf full of very useful data. However, the site score doesn’t lie. This site ranks a solid D and at a score of 15 is the lowest scoring currently open site in all of my reviews. It is not fast enough, there are not enough chargers and there is not much to do in the area. Combine that with the fact that there are other more cost effective locations to charge nearby, and sadly I can’t recommend this site for a stop other than the novelty.
What I paid for this stop:
Total Cost: $7.49
Total kWh: 15.68 kWh
Time: 22 minutes
Average Charge Speed: 42.76 kW (calculated)
Cost per kWh: $0.48 (calculated)
