Service Plaza - Blue Heron

 Introduction

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

Business/Location Name	Blue Heron Service Plaza
Address	Ohio Turnpike Westbound – Mile marker 77
Network	Electrify America
Station Details	4 Stations (2 x 350kW/ 2 x 150kW)
Cost	$0.48 per kWh ($0.36 member price)

The Blue Heron Service Plaza Electrify America station was the 12th stop on my trip exploring the charging sites across Ohio.  (This station opened in May 2019).  

Accessibility

This Blue Heron Service Plaza site is located on the I-80/90 Ohio Turnpike.  This service plaza is at about mile marker 77 on the westbound side of the highway.  The units themselves are placed in the main parking lot on the far corner from the facilities, in a side-by-side layout with 4 available parking spots.  The EVSE placement does not allow for pull-through parking.  (This site is opposite side of the turnpike from my first stop of this trip)

Amenities

Dining options include: Hardee’s, Marco’s Pizza

Shopping options include: Pike Plaza Shop

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

Concentration

This is a baseline 4 charger site for Electrify America.  This station is park beside/next to configuration.  I didn’t have an issue connecting the Polestar 2 with the driver side port, but on this trip, I did see a Kia EV6 struggle to connect with the passenger rear port location.  These layouts are good for side or fender port locations but are more challenging for front port charging vehicles.

Location

This site is on the westbound side of the turnpike, on the east side of Toledo and is positioned well to support traffic headed from east to west, with the next site to the west further along the turnpike towards Indiana and the Chicago area.

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 March of 2018 Signet charging units have been supporting most Ohio locations for 4 years already

Summary

Based on my preliminary research, I knew that only 2 of the 4 units at this stop were working, same as the last stop.  As I got on the turnpike, I noticed that an Ioniq 5 entered behind me.  I was worried that we were both planning to stop at the service plaza stop and if someone was already there, it would be a wait.  As we approached the service plaza, there was a EV6 that seemed to be drafting a semi-truck.  The Ioniq 5 didn’t stop, and I chose to leave the 350kW unit for the EV6 and took the 150kW unit to charge.  Unfortunately, due to where I parked the driver of the EV6 had a hard time parking to plug in.  Fortunately, the EV6 was headed back to MI and was just doing a quick top up to make it home.  Unfortunately, the 150kW only gave me 41kW.  This site scores a B, about what you can expect from a service plaza stop with limited amenities.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $2.52

Total kWh: 7.299

Time: 11 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 39.8 kW

Cost per kWh: $0.35

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
31	B	5	5	21

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com

Giant Eagle - Sheffield

 Introduction

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

Business/Location Name	Giant Eagle – Sheffield
Address	5231 Detroit Rd, Sheffield, OH 44054
Network	Electrify America
Station Details	4 Stations (2 x 350kW/ 2 x 150kW)
Cost	$0.48 per kWh ($0.36 member price)

The Giant Eagle – Sheffield Electrify America station was the 11th stop on my trip to explore the charging sites across Ohio.  (This station opened in June 2019).  

Accessibility

The Sheffield Giant Eagle site is located just off of I-90 at exit 148.  This site is located a very quick 0.4 miles from the main highway.  On the western edge of the parking lot, this site is out of the primary traffic flow pattern.  In a rare case this site is closer to the highway than the Tesla site at the Sheetz nearby, but the Sheetz is open 24 hours making that the better served site from an amenity’s standpoint.  The EVSE placement does not allow for pull-through parking.

Amenities

Dining options include: Arby’s, Cracker Barrel, Taco Bell, Mr Hero, KFC, McDonalds

Shopping options include: Giant Eagle, AutoZone, Sheetz

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  BP or GetGo gas stations nearby

Concentration

This is a baseline 4 charger site for Electrify America.  This station is the pull/back into configuration.  I didn’t have an issue connecting the Polestar 2 with the driver side port.  Front fender mount port locations might have a harder time getting the cables to reach, but the Mach-E charging here didn’t seem to have any issue. 

Location

This stop is on I-90.  Covering the west side of Cleveland.  Akron, Toledo and Youngstown are all within the 150-mile range radius.

50 Mile Radius:

Estimated 150/200 mile range:

Speed

Electrify America has chargers that support the fastest speeds available today.  The sites support both 350kW and 150kW stations.  The sites are well equipped to handle the current electric cars and those to come.  The made in December of 2018 Signet charging units have been supporting most Ohio locations for 5 years and likely years to come.  

Summary

Of all the sites, this was probably the worst from an operational standpoint.  The two 350kW dispensers had issues, one was completely off with a blank screen and the other showed unavailable.  I had expected to find issues here based on my trip planning research.  I barely managed to get 40kW charging speed at the open 150kW unit, indicating either a derated station or failed temperature sensor in the cable.  This site is different from many others in that the actual power equipment is separated from the dispensers by the service road.  Hopefully with a little maintenance this site can be brought up to match the performance of other sites on this trip.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $2.52

Total kWh: 7.299

Time: 11 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 39.8kW

Cost per kWh: $0.35

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
29	B	3	5	21

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com

Sheetz - Mentor

 Introduction

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

Business/Location Name	Sheetz – Mentor
Address	7777 Reynolds Rd., Mentor, OH 44060
Network	Electrify America
Station Details	4 Stations (2 x 350kW/ 2 x 150kW)
Cost	$0.48 per kWh ($0.36 member price)

The Sheetz – Mentor Electrify America station was the 10th stop on my trip to explore the charging sites across Ohio.  (This station opened in June 2019).  

Chargers are to the right in this picture.

Accessibility

The Sheetz here is 0.4 miles from OH-2 and 1.4 miles from I-90.  The units themselves are behind the Sheetz.  Not clearly visible from the main road this sight would be difficult to find without navigation.  The EVSE placement does not allow for pull-through parking.

Amenities

Dining options include: Chipotle, Mission BBQ, Starbucks, Smokey Bones

Shopping options include: Sheetz

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Sheetz gas station here

Concentration

This is a baseline 4 charger site for Electrify America.  This station is the pull/back into configuration.  I didn’t have an issue connecting the Polestar 2 with the driver side port.  Front fender mount port locations might have a harder time getting the cables to reach, but the Lucid charging here didn’t seem to have any issue. 

Location

This stop is close to I-90.  This would support travel to or from Akron, Cleveland, Erie and Youngstown.  It supports the northeast corner of Ohio.

50 Mile Radius:

Estimated 150/200 mile range:

Speed

Electrify America has chargers that support the fastest speeds available today.  The sites support both 350kW and 150kW stations.  The sites are well equipped to handle the current electric cars and those to come.  The 'made in September of 2018' Signet charging units have been supporting most Ohio locations for 5 years already.  

Summary

Finding this site coming from I-90 was a little difficult.  When I arrived, there was already a Lucid Air plugged in and charging.  I was surprised to see the Lucid taking a nice steady charge, as I was expecting to see more fluctuation with these chargers.  I opted to make this second stop of the day a little longer since my research showed me that there were likely only 2 working stalls at my next stop.  I stayed and charged enough that if there was a line at the next stop, I wouldn’t need a charge to make it to the stop after that.  A very smooth charging session and I was back on the road with 70%.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $13.32

Total kWh: 37.312

Time: 22 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 102 kW

Cost per kWh: $0.36

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
31	B	4	6	21

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com