The Adventures of Elektra, and Voltron: EVs in Michigan: Walmart

Introduction

Site review from my trip to review all the Electrify America locations in Ohio.

Business/Location Name	Walmart – Columbus
Address	5200 Westpointe Plaza Drive, Columbus, OH
Network	Electrify America
Station Details	8 Stations (2 x 350kW/ 6 x 150kW)
Cost	$0.48 per kWh ($0.36 member price)

The Walmart – Columbus Electrify America station was the 3rd stop on my trip to explore the charging sites across Ohio. (This station opened in July 2019).

Accessibility

This Columbus Walmart site is located off I-70 at exit 91. 0.6 miles from the highway, these units are placed in a far low traffic corner of the Walmart parking lot. The units themselves are placed closest to the intersection of Renner Rd and Rentra Dr. The EVSE placement of 2 rows of 4 chargers each allows for plenty of options for pull through parking and charging.

Amenities

Dining options include: Culver’s, Olive Garden, Burger King, Fazoli’s, Arby’s, Wingstop, White Castle

Shopping options include: Walmart, PetSmart, Marshalls, Hobby Lobby, Five Below

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air): Shell gas station 0.25 miles away.

Concentration

This is a large 8 station layout with the units placed in 2 rows of 4. As the one site for Electrify America covering all of Columbus, this barely seems like enough. The spacing does allow for some pull through parking.

Location

This site on the I-70 east/west highway on the west side of Columbus. Positioned to support travel to and from cities like Dayton and Cincinnati. This site does a good job of covering a good central portion of the state of Ohio; the 150-mile loop covers most of the state.

50 Mile Loop:

150 to 200 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

Electrify America has chargers that support the fastest speeds available today. The sites support both 350kW and 150kW stations and are well equipped to handle the current electric cars and those yet to come. The made in October of 2018 Signet charging units have been supporting most Ohio locations for 5 years already.. (I managed to capture a picture this time of the Polestar 2 taking its max power 151kW at 366A.)

Summary

This is a popular charging exit on I-70. Across Hillard-Rome Rd, in the Meijer parking lot, is the local Tesla Supercharger with 12 stalls and a Shell Recharge location with two 50kW units. Further north on Hillard-Rome Rd, is an EVgo location with 4 stalls. This site is my first ever to score an A ranking, with a 37 out of 44 points!!. While I was here, there was a brand-new BMW iX trying to work with EA customer support to get their free charging configured. After I had plugged in, a Genesis GV60 showed up to charge. Just over 10 minutes gave the charge I needed to move onto my next stop.