Walmart - Cambridge

 Introduction

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

Business/Location Name	Walmart – Cambridge
Address	61205 Southgate Rd, Cambridge, OH 43725
Network	Electrify America
Station Details	4 Stations (2 x 350kW/ 2 x 150kW)
Cost	$0.48 per kWh ($0.36 member price)

The Walmart – Cambridge Electrify America station was the 8th stop on my trip to explore the charging sites across Ohio.  (This station opened in February 2019).  

Accessibility

The Walmart here in Cambridge is 1 mile south of I-70 at exit 178.  Take OH-209/Southgate Parkway to get to the parking lot.  The charging dispensers are located on the southern part of the lot a little more than halfway away from the building.  The 4 units are placed in a side-by-side layout with 4 available parking spots. There is one spot here at could accommodate pull thru parking.

Amenities

Dining options include: Tlaquepaque Mexican, Buffalo Wild Wings, Arby’s

Shopping options include: Walmart, Maurices

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Small nearby gas station.

Concentration

This is a baseline 4 charger site for Electrify America.  This station is the pull beside or next to configuration.  I didn’t have an issue connecting the Polestar 2 with the driver side port.  Front mounted ports may have more issues at this site design, and depending on port location you may have to use the dispense with the screen facing away from the car.  One of the four here was out of service.

Location

This stop is on I-70 in the middle of Columbus, OH and Pittsburgh, PA.  This is one exit to the west from the interchange of I-70 with I-77 which runs north to Cleveland, OH.  This site provides coverage for the southeast corner of Ohio.

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 amount of electric cars and those yet to come.  The made in June of 2018 Signet charging units have been supporting most Ohio locations for 4 years already.

Summary

The first long day of this trip ended with this final charging session.  Since I knew I’dhave a long leg to start the next day, I took the time to charge up towards 90%.  This was to insure I’d have no issues making it to my first stop in the morning.  A beautiful sunset and friendly couple in a Mach-E that stopped to charge soon after I arrived helped pass the 44 minutes it took to charge from 26% to 88%.  I once again managed to get the peak 150kW charge speed.  Above 80% the charging speed slowed to a crawl, not even making 30kW speeds.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $19.80

Total kWh: 55.348

Time: 44 minutes 35 seconds

Average Charge Speed: 74.6 kW

Cost per kWh: $0.36

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
28	B	4	3	21

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com

Trip Report: Lap of Ohio visiting Electrify America

 Full lap of Ohio Electrify America (EA) charging sites.

2 years ago, I went on a trip where I visited all the EA sites in Michigan.  I have wanted to expand my reviews outside of Michigan for some time, so I decided I would go and visit all of the EA sites in Ohio.  While the Michigan trip took me to 8 sites, the Ohio trip included 14 sites and took 2 days.

During my planning using the PlugShare and EA apps, I located the addresses of all the EA stations and made a high-level route plan. I would visit the four turnpike service area sites, Cambridge, Cincinnati (x2), Columbus, Cleveland (x2), Dayton, Mansfield, Youngstown . With the basic loop documented, I plugged all the destinations into A Better Route Planner, a website/app is designed for EV owners. Owners simply enter the details on their EV and then A Better Route Planner will plan routes that include charging stops with information estimating how long you will need to charge at each stop, along with estimated arrival and departure battery percentages.

Day 1 Travel Plan:

Day 2 Travel Plan:

There have barely been any EA upgrades in Michigan in the last 2 years.  In this time, there are only 2 changes to the EA network in Michigan.  They upgraded the charging units at the Roundtree Place location to the latest hardware (Site Review Updated).  They added one new site on the west side of Grand Rapids.  Frequent readers of my blog will note that this is no growth compared to the newly opened EVgo and Red E Charge locations.

As part of this trip, I also decided to test out a different EV.  I rented a Polestar 2 from my local Hertz for just $50 a day.  I wanted to do this to avoid the miles, and the DC fast charging cycles on Elektra.  This turned out to be a great decision as the rented car gave me both excellent efficiency and charging speeds.

Day 1 Comparison:

The chart shows a very accurate estimation.  I was just $3 short on the total cost, and 36 miles and 22 minutes over due to unexpected detours.   The other item of note is the 45 minute charge session at the end of day 1 to prepare for day 2 of this trip.

Day 2 Comparison:

Another very accurate estimate from A Better Route Planner.  Successfully completing over 1000 miles and 13 new EA locations.  I had a lot of fun doing this trip, but with the number of new locations opening in Michigan, I don’t think I need to travel far from home next year to get plenty of new site reviews.

Here is a picture of the Polestar 2 while I was doing one final charge session before returning the car.

Departure Trip Computer

Stop 1 Trip Computer

Stop 2 Trip Computer

Stop 3 Trip Computer

Stop 4 Trip Computer

Stop 5 Trip Computer

Stop 6 Trip Computer

Stop 7 Trip Computer

Stop 8 Trip Computer

Day 2

Start

Stop 1

Stop 2

Stop 3

Stop 4

Stop 5

Stop 6

End

Harpers Station - Cinncinati

 Introduction

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

Business/Location Name	Harpers Station – Cincinnati
Address	11315 Montgomery Rd. Cincinnati, OH
Network	Electrify America
Station Details	10 Stations (2 x 350kW/ 8 x 150kW)
Cost	$0.48 per kWh ($0.36 member price)

The Harpers Station – Cincinnati Electrify America station was the 6th stop on my trip exploring charging sites across Ohio.  (This station opened in July 2019).  

Accessibility

This Electrify America site is at a small strip mall.  Harpers Station is 1.1 miles from I-275 at exit 50 and 2.5 miles from the I-71 and I-275 interchange.  From I-275 exit 50, take Montgomery Rd northeast.  Behind the Buffalo Wild Wings are the chargers.  The units themselves are placed in the main parking lot on the far corner from the facilities,in a side-by-side layout with 10 dedicated parking spots.  Some of the spots do allow for pull-through parking.

Amenities

Dining options include: Kawa Sushi, Subway, Korea House, Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera Bread, Chili’s

Shopping options include: Fresh Thyme Market, Home Goods, T.J. Maxx

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air): Shell gas station at nearest intersection.

Concentration

This Electrify America location offers up 10 charging dispensers.  Based on the usage while I was at this site, it seems like 10 units is the correct number for now.  When I arrived, there was just one other car here, but by the time I left there was only one open unit remaining.  I parked at the end and easily backed the Polestar into a spot for the driver's rear port location.

Location

This site on I-275, near the intersection with I-71, is well placed to support travel to and from Columbus along I-71 and traffic heading west to Indianapolis.

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 amount of electric cars and those yet to come.  The made in September of 2018 Signet charging units have been supporting most Ohio locations for 5 years already..  (The Polestar 2 was somewhat limiting the charging at this point due to high temperatures.  However,  the ability to maintain 100kW in 100 plus degree weather is very good performance.)  

Summary

The temperature increased steadily throughout the day.  What had started as a cool and almost foggy first stop turned into a very sunny and hot stop.  After stopping more towards downtown Cincinnati on my previous stop and seeing 6 stations busy, I wondered if 10 units were really needed at this location.  By the time I was leaving, the site was very busy with only 1 or 2 spots open. In planning the trip, my next stop would have been all the way on the east side of the state requiring me to charge up to 90% to make.  I decided to cut this session short, but it was still 22 minutes, and add a quick stop near Columbus to make it all the way across.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $10.79

Total kWh: 30.551

Time: 22 minutes 8 seconds

Average Charge Speed: 83 kW

Cost per kWh: $0.35

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
35	A	5	5	25

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com