Michigan NEVI Funding Round 1 Site Analysis

 On April 10, 2024, MDOT released the list of Round 1 NEVI funded Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM) award winners.  The list shows the node and node location (general area the site is to be installed), the company selected to get the award and the amount of money given out for each site.  While this is great information, being ever curious, I went about extrapolating from this data what are some likely potential actual addresses for these sites.  Here is my guess on the locations, with initial comments on how useful these new NEVI funded sites will be.  I will list the major cities, and my confidence level on my guess.  At the end, I will talk a little about the money these companies are getting for these sites.  Links at the bottom to EVSE equipment manufacture sites.

Update: At the beginning of September 2024, MDOT sent out a notice of the delay for Round 2. As part of this they highlighted updates to the online mapping tool. The round one sites have been updated in the tool with businesses and addresses, and those updates are now reflected with confidence rankings updated to high.

The full MDOT release list can be found here:  

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/travel/mobility/initiatives/nevi

50 Mile Radius Loops for UP coverage

Upper Peninsula (UP) sites:

Sites in Michigan’s UP have the challenge of the lack of high-power infrastructure, so any site here will either need to be supported by a battery backup or will likely end up having almost cost prohibitive charging.

Sault Saint Marie – High Confidence:

GPM Southeast will place this site at the Admiral gas station/convenience store located at 4135 I-75 Business Spur, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783.  This is a company owned store site.  I expect that they are likely to use ChargePoint Express Plus units, but they may opt to go with Freewire or other battery backed units here.

Gladstone – High Confidence:

Red E Charge will place this site at Pat's Foods located at 409 N 9th St, Gladstone, MI 49837.  This is the type of business that Red E Charging has worked with before to place charging equipment.  I expect that they will use a ADS-TEC battery backed system for the chargers that they have previously experimented with at other sites.  This equipment is now made in Alabama.

Norway – High Confidence

As a small equipment manufacturer and CPO, I reached out directly to Jule (DBA eCAMION USA, Inc.) to ask about their plans.  They confirmed that they are partnering with Bay College at the Iron Mountain campus.  This site is at 2801 US-2, Iron Mountain, MI 49801, right on the US-2 AFC.  They plan 440kWh of on-site battery storage and then the required 4 – 150kW dispensers.  Jule also confirms that they are planning both CCS1 and J3400 connectors at each dispenser.  The site here should look like the Jule site in Port Huron but upgraded to meet the 600kW total output NEVI requirements, and they will also operate the site.

Manistique – High Confidence

I called Cloverland Electric Cooperative and talked to them about this site.  The planned location for this site is the Kewadin Casino at 5630 W, US-2, Manistique, MI 49854.  This should be a good high traffic site.  They are also planning a battery backed up system with a high potential to use the Jule hardware and also use Red E Charging as the site operator.

Escanaba – High Confidence

A GPM Southeast company owned Marathon/Admiral gas station/convenience store located at 720 N Lincoln Rd, Escanaba, MI 49829.  This site is already listed in PlugShare with a coming soon note.  As for equipment, I would guess ChargePoint Express Plus.

25 Mile Radius Loops for lower peninsula coverage

Mackinaw City – High Confidence

GPM Southeast will use the Marathon Gas station at 309 S Nicolet St, Mackinaw City, MI 49701 to host this site.  I expect that they will use ChargePoint Express Plus hardware.

Traverse City – High Confidence

Red E Charging will partner with the Beyond Juice at 2632 Crossing Cir, Traverse City, MI 49684. I do expect that Red E Charging will install the Autel Max Chargers at this site like they have been installing at many sites recently.

Grayling – High Confidence

 A GPM Southeast company owned Admiral gas station/convenience store located at 2615 S I 75 Bus Loop, Grayling, MI 49738.  This site is already listed in PlugShare giving me the highest level of confidence on this site.  As for equipment, I would guess ChargePoint Express Plus.

Ludington – High Confidence

This node was awarded to the charging equipment maker FLO.  I expect that they will partner with a large business in the area, Tractor Supply Company at 4460 US-10, Ludington, MI 49431. Here I would expect that FLO will install their own FLO Ultra units.

Grand Rapids #1 – High Confidence

EVgo was awarded the business to put in a site along the downtown I-196 corridor, but I really don’t know exactly where they will go.  My initial guess was correct for the Chase Bank location at 1100 Michigan St NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.  I expect EVgo will install their standard 2 Delta 350kW power sharing units.

Grand Rapids #2 – High Confidence

A GPM Southeast company owned Admiral gas station/convenience store located at 2366 Alpine Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49544.  This site fits this node well.  As for equipment, I would guess ChargePoint Express Plus.

Lansing #1 – Cancelled

Markham Enterprises has dropped from supporting this NEVI site.

Lansing #2 – High Confidence

Meijer has been awarded for this node.  They will put the NEVI site in the location at 1350 W Lake Lansing Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823 which already has charging. Since Meijer has partnered with just about all the different suppliers at various locations, it is hard to guess what hardware they will use, however the NEVI sites in Ohio are all EVgo partner sites, so I am going to guess they will follow that pattern in Michigan.

Flint #1 – High Confidence

This is the first of 4 sites awarded to Francis Energy.  Francis Energy is a fast growing Charge Point Operator (CPO) based in Oklahoma.  They have opened sites in Indiana and Ohio, but these will be the first in Michigan.  The Applebee's at 3129 Miller Rd, Flint, MI 48507 will host the site.  Hardware is much easier to judge as Francis Energy has a contract with SK Signet for 1000 units. 

Flint #2 – High Confidence

A GPM Southeast company owned Express Stop gas station/convenience store located at 3930 Corunna Road Flint MI 48532.  This site is already confirmed as coming soon in PlugShare.  Likely to use ChargePoint Express Plus hardware.

Port Huron – High Confidence

Love's Travel Stop at 1336 Wadhams Rd, St Clair, MI 48079.  While outside of the expected node area, this Loves has already been confirmed on Plugshare and only makes sense given the awarded business.  Loves has not listed their planned NEVI hardware so for now I am guessing ChargePoint Express Plus.

Benton Harbor – High Confidence

Pilot Travel Center at 1860 E Napier Ave, Benton Harbor, MI 49022.  This is an already planned EVgo/Pilot/GM Energy location.  Makes sense that NEVI funds will be used to make sure this site becomes available.  I expect 2 Delta 350kW dual output power sharing units.

Portage – High Confidence

EVgo has another award win for this node.  The Southland Mall at 6110 S Westnedge Ave, Poartage, MI 49024 will host this site.  I expect 2 Delta 350kW dual output power sharing units.

Battle Creek– High Confidence

Pilot Travel Center at 15901 11 Mile Rd, Battle Creek, MI 49014.  This is an already planned EVgo/Pilot/GM Energy location.  Makes sense that NEVI funds will be used to make sure this site becomes available.  I expect 2 Delta 350kW dual output power sharing units.

Detroit – High Confidence

Red E Charging has the award for this node.  There are lots of options in this region.  The MDOT map shows this as the Marathon gas station at 714 E Warren Ave, Detroit, MI 48201.  This seems to be a good match for a business site.  Very likely that Autel Max Charger units would be used to cover this site.

Luna Pier – High Confidence

Sunoco at 4180 Luna Pier Rd, Luna Pier, MI 48157.  This is an already EGLE funded site.  The NEVI money here can be used to expand the site planning to meet the NEVI requirements.  Expect to see the Red E Charging base Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Petoskey – High Confidence

Another Red E Charging award site.  A bit odd with RiteAid closing all stores in MI, that this one at 630 W Mitchell St, Petoskey, MI 49770 would be listed as the host.  Expect to see the Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Gaylord – High Confidence

This is the second of 4 sites awarded to Francis Energy.    Family Fare Supermarket will be the host at 829 W Main St, Gaylord, MI 49734.  We can expect to see the SK Signet NEVI charging solution hardware at this site.  This hardware has already started to be installed at the Francis Energy NEVI sites in Ohio.

Reed City – High Confidence

This is another of the 12 sites awarded to Red E Charging.  Wesco has become a common gas station partner and the one at 4921 S 220th Ave, Reed City, MI 49677 will host this site.  Expect to see the Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Alma – High Confidence

GPM Southeast has a gas station/convenience store branded Admiral at 2982 W Monroe Rd, Alma, MI 48801.  I expect to see ChargePoint Express Plus hardware at this site.

Imlay City – High Confidence

The second of 2 Loves sites.  The Loves Travel Stop at 3191 Capac Rd, Mussey Township, MI 48014.  While outside of the expected node area, this Love has already been confirmed on PlugShare and only makes sense given the awarded business.  Loves has not listed their planned NEVI hardware so for now I am guessing ChargePoint Express Plus.

Jackson #1 – High Confidence

This is the third of 4 sites awarded to Francis Energy.    Once again a mall is hosting, this time Jackson Crossing at 1285 Boardman Rd, Jackson, MI 49202.  We can expect to see the SK Signet NEVI charging solution hardware at this site, based on the announced partnership.  This hardware has already started to be installed at the Francis Energy NEVI sites in Ohio.

Jackson #2 – High Confidence

A GPM Southeast company owned BP gas station/convenience store located at 2500 Airport Rd, Jackson, MI 49202.  This site fits this node well.  As for equipment, I would guess ChargePoint Express Plus.

Bear Lake – High Confidence

This is the fourth of 4 sites awarded to Francis Energy.    Confirmed the Saddle Up Gas & Grocery located at 12991 Pleasanton Hwy, Bear Lake, MI 49614.  We can expect to see the SK Signet NEVI charging solution hardware at this site, based on the announced partnership.  This hardware has already started to be installed at the Francis Energy NEVI sites in Ohio.

Bear Lake – High Confidence

This is another of the 12 sites awarded to Red E Charging.  The Wesco gas station/convenience store located at 2983 Benzie Hwy Benzonia, MI 49616 follows the existing partner site pattern.  Expect to see the Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Houghton Lake – High Confidence

AGI was awarded this location.  The Beacon & Bridge Market at 9391 W Lake City Rd, Houghton Lake, MI 48629 will host this site.  I would expect a ChargePoint Express Plus set of hardware to support this site.

West Branch – High Confidence

This is another of the 12 sites awarded to Red E Charging.  The Mobil gas station/convenience store located at 2997 Cook Rd, West Branch, MI 48661 follows the existing partner site pattern.  Expect to see the Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Muskegon #1 – Cancelled

McCormick Land II, LLC has dropped from supporting this NEVI site.

Muskegon #2 – High Confidence

This is another of the 12 sites awarded to Red E Charging.  The Wesco gas station/convenience store located at 1819 Apple Ave, Muskegon, MI 49442 follows the existing partner site pattern.  Expect to see the Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Saugatuck – High Confidence

There are already some destination fast charging solutions in this node, but this is an addition of a NEVI focused travel solution.  Pilot Travel Center at 853 Interchange Dr, Holland, MI 49423.  This is an already planned EVgo/Pilot/GM Energy location.  Makes sense that NEVI funds will be used to make sure this site becomes available.  I expect 2 Delta 350kW dual output power sharing units.

Brighton – High Confidence

This is another of the 12 sites awarded to Red E Charging.  The Sunoco gas station/convenience store located at 602 W Grand River Ave, Brighton, MI 48116 follows the existing partner site pattern.  Expect to see the Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Auburn Hills – High Confidence

This is another of the 12 sites awarded to Red E Charging.  The BP gas station/convenience store located at 3700 Joslyn Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326 follows the existing partner site pattern.  Expect to see the Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Newport – High Confidence

This is another of the 12 sites awarded to Red E Charging.  The BP gas station/convenience store located at 8733 Swan Creek Rd, Newport, MI 48166 is an existing site.  The money awarded here is one of the smallest amounts and is enough to see the existing site upgraded to meet NEVI requirements.  There are already Red E Charging Autel Max Charger Units at this site.

Wayland – High Confidence

The Mobil/Noonday Market gas station/convenience store at 1150 129th Ave, Shelbyville, MI 49344 fits this node award.  This site is already listed in PlugShare with a coming soon note.  I expect to see ChargePoint Express Plus hardware supporting this location.

Perry – High Confidence

The Citgo gas station/convenience store located at 720 N Main St, Perry, MI 48872 will host the site.  This site has existing chargers in the form of 2 ChargePoint CPE 250 units.  The parking is less than optimal, so the expansion to 4 spots for NEVI including spacing for ChargePoint Express Plus units will be worth the follow.

Fowlerville – High Confidence

The final site on the list has been awarded to Rivian.  They should install one of their Adventure Network sites in this node.  Apparently this node also covered some of the south side of Lansing.  Based on this the now expected host is Meijer at 6200 Pennsylania Ave, Lansing, MI 48911. For the hardware, this should be the Rivian designed and built hardware.  Being a NEVI site, this also means that it needs to be open to all cars highlighting the need for Rivian to open their network which is currently only available to Rivian vehicles.

Thanks for taking the time to read through all my guesses.  I will try to keep this updated as more information about the installs becomes available. I was correct on some guesses and wrong on others, but now we are at high confidence on most sites. Will start to update when construction starts on these sites.

Money Summary:

In this first round of funding MDOT has awarded over $22 million dollars.  Red E Charging and the 12 awarded sites takes just over $5 million of this money.  GPM Southeast is second in number of sites at 8 and $3.5 million.  Francis Energy is awarded 4 sites at $3.1 million.  The most expensive award is $900k to Francis Energy for one of the Bear Lake node sites.  The least expensive award is for $200k to Red E Charging to expand the existing site in the Newport node.

Hardware Summary:

https://www.chargepoint.com/businesses/stations/express-plus

https://www.ads-tec-energy.com/en/products/charging/system

https://telluspowergreen.com/buy-america

https://autelenergy.us/pages/maxicharger-dc-fast-60kw-240kw

https://www.flo.com/products/hardware/ultra/

https://www.delta-americas.com/en-US/products/EV-Charging/High-Power-Charger-350kW

https://sksignet.us/distributed/400kw-dp--600kw-pc

https://www.julepower.com/jule-chargers

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com

Citgo - Perry - Redo

 Introduction

Welcome to my Charging Site Reviews.  One of the main reasons I decided to start a blog was to share information with others about Electric Car Charging locations.

Business/Location Name	PS Food Mart #1035
Address	720 N Main St, Perry, MI 48872
Network	ChargePoint
Station Details	2 Stations (62.5kW/125kW linked)
Cost	$0.42 per kWh (Was $0.15/min in 2021)

The PS Food Mart is at a Citgo gas station about halfway between Flint and Lansing along I-69, in Perry, MI.  This site serves the northeast to southwest corridor from Port Huron, MI (on the border with Canada) and Coldwater, MI. (This site opened in January 2021)

Accessibility

This station is in the southwest corner of the gas station parking lot.  Taking M-52 (Main St.) south from the freeway exits, the gas station for this stop is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of M-52 and Lansing Rd.  From the stop light at this intersection, the chargers can be seen just past the ‘Welcome to Perry’ sign.  Since these chargers are placed in the corner of the parking lot closest to the road, it is very unlikely that a vehicle that was not charging would park in these spaces.  However, since the parking is  ‘nose in’, there is no pull-through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.  These charges are placed with diagonal parking spaces, so this may make parking vehicles that need to back in to charge (like the Ioniq 6) more difficult.

Amenities

Dining options include: Subway, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Jersey Giants, KFC

Shopping options include: 3 convenience stores, two dollar stores and a drug store

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

There is no covering for the chargers, so they could easily become icy or blocked by snow in the winter time, and the direction of the chargers will make clearing snow completely from the front of the chargers difficult in winter.

Concentration

This is the baseline ChargePoint 2 charger site.  The parking is a pull/back into configuration. The current space available could add 2 more chargers.  This site has room to grow, but it will take more to add to this site, and additional spots will more likely be blocked by non-electric vehicles.  This may provide an opportunity for other charging networks to open a station at this exit.

Location

Overall, I think this is a pretty good location for a charging stop.  At about 100 miles from both Port Huron, MI and Coldwater, MI, this site would serve any electric drivers that are traveling the I-69 highway and supports more highway miles to alleviate concerns about charging options.

100/150 Mile Range

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.  For vehicles above 500V, the current limits change and they become 75A and 125A, thus making the maximum theoretical output to be 125kW (125A at 1000V).  While this does not match the most powerful units on the market, it will support reasonably fast charging for one vehicle.  (The power sharing was in full effect as I was limited on arrival by an EV9 charging and then later after the EV9 left, a R1S showed up and charged.)

Summary

Let’s start with the bad, the cost of this site has nearly tripled in 3 years. From a calculated $0.18 per kWh to $0.42 per kWh, but I understand the site was probably quite under priced with few EVs on the road at the time of my first review visit.  Now for the good, this site is now very busy.  As I arrived there was a brand new Kia EV9 charging, then for a short time, I was able to charge by myself, but only a couple of minutes later a Rivian R1S pulled up to charge and I was back to power sharing.  Lastly, about 1 minute before I left, a Rivian R1T arrived to charge.  The power sharing worked great; there was no interruption in charging or fault of the sessions as the 2 units worked together to share power between the various connected vehicles with different voltage levels and current draw requests.  Even with the power sharing I averaged 80kW charging speed for the 26 minute session, more than what I would have been able to pull if the stations were independent.  All of this to show how effective even a small two station site like this can be in providing good power and reasonable throughput to EV drivers in need.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $14.68

Total kWh: 34.95 kWh

Time: 26 min

Average Charge Speed: 80.65 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.42 

What I paid 3 years ago in the Niro EV

Total Cost: $5.70

Total kWh: 32.02 kWh

Time: 38 min

Average Charge Speed: 50.56 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.18 (Calculated) 

 

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
28	B	6	8	14

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com

Downtown - Owosso

 Introduction

Welcome to my Charging Site Reviews.  One of the main reasons I decided to start a blog was to share information with others about Electric Car Charging locations.

Business/Location Name	Downtown Parking Lot
Address	113 W Main St, Owosso, MI 48867
Network	ChargePoint
Station Details	2 Stations (62.5kW)
Cost	$0.35 per kWh

The Owosso Downtown Parking Lot is in downtown Owosso as the name applies.  This charging set up is a destination charger, not a travel charger.  These units are here for charging vehicles while customers are going to the local businesses, and this makes sense for the available speeds from these unlinked units.  This station opened in April 2022.

Accessibility

This station is in the corner of the parking lot with tight spacing.  Taking M-52 (Main St.) south from the freeway exits, the gas station for this stop is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of M-52 and Lansing Rd.  From the stop light at this intersection, the chargers can be seen just past the ‘Welcome to Perry’ sign.  Since these chargers are placed in the corner of the parking lot closest to the road, it is very unlikely that a vehicle that was not charging would park in these spaces.  However, since the parking is ‘nose in’, there is no pull-through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.  

Amenities

Dining options include: Jade Buffet, Foster Coffee, Cakey Cakes and Bakery, Fortune House

Shopping options include: Gilbert’s Hardware, Aviator Jane, 

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

There is no covering for the chargers, so they could easily become icy or blocked by snow in the winter time.

Concentration

This is the baseline ChargePoint 2 charger site.  The parking is a pull/back into configuration.  Not much room for expansion at this site, nor much option to add covering to the parking spots.

Location

This is a good destination charging stop.  A way off of the highway.

50 Mile Loop.

100/150 Mile Range

Speed

ChargePoint is offering a middle of the pack solution targeted for the early adoption phase.  These independent units have a power or current limit of 62.5kW or 150A.  For vehicles above 500V, the current limit is 75A.  This is enough for a destination charge point where a driver could expect to spend some time, but not the correct solution for a travel corridor charger. 

Summary

The parking was tight and a Chevy Bolt had just pulled up to the right hand side charger when I arrived.  I waited for them to plug in and leave before backing Voltron into the left hand side charging stall.  The parking spots in this downtown lot are a little tight.  Once parked, when connecting to the vehicle I noted that the locking tab on the connector had been broken off.  This didn’t stop me from charging, but I wouldn’t want to leave my vehicle unattended with the broken lock as the connector could be removed by any passerby.  I appreciate charging options like this wherever they are placed and if I need to come to Owosso again I would look for an opportunity to use these again. 

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $3.05

Total kWh: 8.71 kWh

Time: 10 min

Average Charge Speed: 52.25 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.35

 

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
15	D	2	4	9

Questions/Comments:

DanTheEVMan@gmail.com