Carson City Village Market – Carson Village

Introduction

This is a site review from my trip to cover the lake shore route from the middle of the mitten northward and the return trip home. Site reviews completed on August 20, 2024.

Business/Location Name	Carson City Village Market
Address	10715 E Carson City Rd, Carson City 48811
Network	Red E Charge
Station Details	One 160kW Dual Port EVSE
Cost	$0.49/kWh + $0.30 Session fee

After a busy summer, I was finally able to get on the road and test quite a few stations.  This was the eleventh planned stop of the trip.  More of these smaller off the beaten path stations add confidence that EV drivers will be able to find charging when they need.

(This station opened in October 2023).  

Accessibility

This station is in the parking lot for the grocery store along M-57 route that tracks through the middle of the state.  The single Red E Charge unit is easy to spot in the corner of the parking lot.  The parking spots are clearly marked for EV only but could be blocked if the store is busy.  Since the parking is “nose in”, there’s no pull-through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.

Amenities

This site is well chosen for the small town with the expected amenities close.

Dining options include: McDonald’s, Rusty Nail, Subway, Main Street Pizza are a close drive.

Shopping options include: Village Market, Rite Aid

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

Concentration

This is a single Red E Charge Autel MaxiCharger capable of outputting power to both connectors at the same time.  This station is the pull/back into configuration, easy charging with Elektra’s front port location or when backing in with Voltron to charge.  

Location

I am happy to see that the Detroit based Red E Charge continues to invest in charging throughout the state.  This location is not a high traffic or corridor site, but it can support cars in this area.  From here it is about 55 miles southwest to Grand Rapids, 50 miles southeast to Lansing and 130 miles north to Grayling. 

50 Mile Radius:

150 to 200 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

This Autel MaxiCharger is a step up from the ChargePoint CPE 250 units populated for destination charging. The rated 160kW is achieved by using the air-cooled cables in boost mode to provide up to 400 A for short periods of time to match the charging curves of many vehicles.  Higher voltage vehicles should be able to take advantage of the output power from these units.  This stop as well as others by this EVSE manufacture, you start out at a lower speed for the first minute or so, and then the unit brings additional power modules online to work up to maximum power.

    

Summary

I arrived at this stop with 52% battery and 146 miles remaining on the GOM (guess o’ meter).  I had averaged 4.3 miles/kW on the drive.  With temperatures near 70 I didn’t need the climate control running.  The 55 mph speed limits are also attributed to the higher efficiency. The charge limit was still set to 60% from the previous stop and I started the charge in the app.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $3.89

Total kWh: 7.34 kWh

Time: 4 Minutes

Average Charge Speed: 110 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.49 + $0.30 connection fee

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
18	D	5	1	12

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com

Log Cabin Marathon – Greenville

Introduction

This is a site review from my trip to cover the lake shore route from the middle of the mitten northward. Site reviews completed on August 20, 2024.

Business/Location Name	Log Cabin Marathon
Address	12780 Old 14 Mile Rd NE, Greenville, MI 48838
Network	Red E Charge
Station Details	One 160kW Dual Port EVSE
Cost	$0.45 + $0.50 connection fee

After a busy summer, I was finally able to get on the road and test quite a few stations.  This was the tenth planned stop of day 2 of the trip.  More of these smaller off the beaten path stations add confidence that EV drivers will be able to find charging when they need.

(This station opened in July 2024).  

Accessibility

This station is in the corner of the parking lot for the gas station along M-57.  The single Red E Charge unit is easy to spot away from the building and gas pumps.  The parking spots are marked for EV only, but only on the ground.  Since the parking is “nose in”, there’s no pull-through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.

Amenities

There’s not much to speak of regarding amenities at this stop

Dining options include: Bigby Coffee

Shopping options include: None

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

Concentration

This is a single Red E Charge Autel MaxiCharger capable of outputting power to both connectors at the same time.  This station is the pull/back into configuration, easy charging with Elektra’s front port location or when backing in with Voltron to charge.  

Location

I am happy to see that the Detroit based Red E Charge continues to invest in charging throughout the state.  This location is not a high traffic or corridor site, but it can support cars in this area.  From here it is about 30 miles southwest to Grand Rapids, 70 miles southeast to Lansing and 90 miles north to Cadillac. 

50 Mile Radius:

150 to 200 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

This Autel MaxiCharger is a step up from the ChargePoint CPE 250 units populated for destination charging. The rated 160kW is achieved by using the air-cooled cables in boost mode to provide up to 400 A for short periods of time to match the charging curves of many vehicles.  Higher voltage vehicles should be able to take advantage of the output power from these units.

    

Summary

I arrived at this stop with 48% battery and 132 miles remaining on the GOM (guess o’ meter).  I had averaged 3.8 miles/kW on the drive.  I set the charge limit to 60% and started the charge in the app.  A quick 4 minutes later had added 9.88 kWh of power to the pack and brought me up to 60% and I projected 165 miles.  

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $4.94

Total kWh: 9.88 kWh

Time: 4 Minutes

Average Charge Speed: 148 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.45 + $0.50 connection fee

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
23	C	6	5	12

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com

McCormick – Whitehall

Introduction

This is a site review from my trip to cover the lake shore route from the middle of the mitten northward and the trip home. Site reviews completed on August 20, 2024.

Business/Location Name	McCormick Gas Station
Address	1845 W White Lake Dr, Whitehall, MI 49461
Network	ChargePoint
Station Details	2 linked 62.5kW Stations or 125 kW from one station
Cost	$0.45/kWh

This was the ninth planned stop of day two of the trip. . These chargers are run by this small convenience store.  This is an excellent example of a small highway supporting site that enables travel in an EV throughout the state.

(This station opened in July 2021).  

Accessibility

This station is along the divided highway portion of US-31 at exit 126.  The gas station is less than half a mile from the exit.  The two ChargePoint chargers are placed behind a couple of buildings so they are not immediately obvious when arriving at the destination.  The spots are placed such that they are unlikely to be blocked by other traffic.  The stations are designed for pull through parking, but there isn’t much space on either side, so if you are pulling a trailer, it is going to be sticking out into the driving paths on either side..

Amenities

For a site supporting the loop around Lake Michigan, there are adequate facilities.

Dining options include: None

Shopping options include: Dollar General

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  McCormick Gas Station at this location

Concentration

This is a baseline 2 charger site for ChargePoint.  This station one of the few pull through configuration, easy charging with Elektra’s front port location but need to make sure to pull Voltron in the correct direction for easiest connection.  Not much room for expansion.

Location

Having additional charging options along the coast route is good for the support of drivers taking a trip around the state.  Being right on US-31 provides easy access to anyone on this route headed north or south.  From here it is about 45 miles north to Ludington, 190 miles northeast to Gaylord and 55 miles southeast to Grand Rapids. 

50 Mile Radius:

150 to 200 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

These ChargePoint shared power chargers represent a decent destination charging solution. Elektra will not pull more than the single station max output (62.5kW) unless the battery is low and at optimum temperature, Voltron does a better job of taking the rated power.  The 125A and 200A current limits based on the operating mode will have most EVs charging slower than drivers might expect. This site should have no problem supporting 62.5kW from each port at the same time with the 300kVA transformer supplying power.

    

Summary

I arrived at this stop with 50% battery and 145 miles remaining on the GOM (guess o’ meter).  I had averaged 3.2 miles/kW on the drive, not bad for almost all high speed highway driving.  When I pulled up I used my ChargePoint RFID card to start the charge  I unplugged at 66% with A Better Route Planner showing that I should arrive at the next stop with 46% battery.  

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $6.56

Total kWh: 14.58 kWh

Time: 8 Minutes

Average Charge Speed: 109 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.45

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
22	C	5	4	13

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com