Site Review Scores

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Wesco – Ludington

Introduction

This is a site review from my trip to cover the lake shore route from the middle of the mitten northward.


Business/Location Name

Wesco Gas Station

Address

301 W Ludington Ave, Ludington, MI 49431

Network

Red E Charge

Station Details

One 160kW Dual Port EVSE

Cost

$0.45/kWh + $0.50 Session fee


The sixth planned stop of day two was in Ludington, MI.  This is one of the many newly installed sites being opened by the Michigan based Red E ChargingRed E Charging has also been awarded many NEVI funded sites in Michigan and other states.  

(This station opened in April 2024).  




Accessibility

This station is in the corner of the parking lot for this gas station in the downtown area.  The single Red E Charge unit is easy to spot as you approach the Wesco.  The corner parking is away from the building, but close to the road, so no fear of these spots being used for anything other than charging.  However, since the parking is “nose in”, there’s no pull-through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.



Amenities

Amenities here are limited:


Dining options include: House Of Flavors, HumaniTea

Shopping options include: Wesco, Avenue's End Mini Mall

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Wesco


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

Having additional charging options along the coast route is good for the support of drivers taking a trip around the state.  From here it is about 150 miles north to Mackinaw City, 90 miles west to Grayling and 90 miles south to Bay City. 


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 won’t need this current boost to get these speeds. 


    

Summary

I arrived at this stop with 65% battery and 193 miles remaining on the GOM (guess o’ meter).  I had averaged 4.2 miles/kWh on the drive.  When I pulled up the station, I started the charge in the app.  I set the charge limit to 70% and in less than 3 minutes I had added 5% back to the battery pack.  This seems like a nice stop and close to the dock for the old coal powered steamship that can take you across the lake to Wisconsin so that you don’t have to drive all the way around the lake.



What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $3.00

Total kWh: 5.565 kWh

Time: 3 Minutes

Average Charge Speed:  111 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.45/kWh + $0.50 Session fee



Total Score (Max 44)

Score

Accessibility

Amenities

Usability

21

C

4

5

12


Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com


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