Amoco – Stevensville

Introduction

This is a site review from my trip to cover updates to the I-94 east/west corridor.  Site visits on November 8, 2024.

Business/Location Name	Amoco
Address	4609 Red Arrow Hwy, Stevensville, MI 49127
Network	Red E Charge
Station Details	Two 320kW Battery Supported EVSE
Cost	$0.50/kWh + $0.50 Session fee

I have been looking forward to a visit to this site for quite some time.  The Red E Charge location is Stevensville, MI was the westernmost stop on this trip.  This was the 4th charging stop on my trip.  I am excited because this is one of the few installations in the United States of the ADS Tech Charge Box.  This is a battery storage solution that allows high speed charging with a limited grid connection.

(This station opened in October 2023).  

Accessibility

This station is in the parking lot between the Amoco gas station and the Texas Corral.  I-94 at exit 29 just 0.2 miles from the highway make this a quick on and off type of site. The two stalls, each with a single cable.  The Red E Charge units are easy to spot in the parking lot.  The diagonal parking is not the best but works in this application.  Since the parking is “nose in”, there’s no pull-through parking for anyone pulling a trailer.

Amenities

This site is well chosen for a highway stop with the expected amenities close.

Dining options include: Long John Silvers, Texas Corral, Burger King, McDonalds, Starbucks

Shopping options include: None

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

Concentration

This Red E Charge site hosts an ADS Tech ChargeBox solution.  The ChargeBox supplies power to the two dispensers, enabling 2 vehicles to charge at one 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.  4 parking spaces are allowed so that no matter what side your charge port is located there shouldn’t be a problem getting connected.  

Location

I am happy to see that the Detroit based Red E Charge continues to invest in charging throughout the state and look at different technologies to support different use cases.  This highway supporting site is just off I-94.  At 195 miles to Detroit and 95 miles to Chicago, this is westward, but leaving Detroit in a 250-mile range vehicle may set this as a long stretch site.  Note that there is also a Tesla Supercharger open to most vehicles at a Meijer on the other side of the highway.

50 Mile Radius:

150 to 200 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

This site provides 320kW (496A and 920V max) peak power output, while being tied to a much smaller grid connection.  This solution stores 200kWh of energy in the box pictured below.  This solution allows for a low throughput station to provide bursts of power to charge up your car quickly and then fill the onsite batteries from the slow grid connection.  These early units come from the ADS Tech manufacturing in Germany, but they are working to open a manufacturing site in Alabama to have American manufacture towards NEVI support.

(These small old looking transformers are all that appear to be providing grid power to the site.)

Summary

I was excited to use this solution.  The only other battery solutions I have used before were the Jule units.  These German designed and manufactured units worked well for me and the screens showed great details for the charging session.  I am aware there has been some reliability issues with this site and if repair parts need to come from Germany there may be times when charging is down for a longer time than should be allowed. 

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $7.73

Total kWh: 14.47 kWh

Time: 9 Minutes

Average Charge Speed: 96.47 kW (Calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.50 + $0.50 connection fee

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
26	C	4	5	17

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com

West Michigan International – Kalamazoo

Introduction

This is a site review from my trip to cover updates to the I-94 east/west corridor.  Site visits on November 8, 2024.

Business/Location Name	West Michigan International
Address	5380 International Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49009
Network	EV Connect
Station Details	2 Stalls (480kW total site power, each stall has one 500A cable and one 200A cable)
Cost	$0.41/kWh

The West Michigan International station was the 3rd charging stop on my trip to check out added charging options along the I-94 corridor.  This is a site revisit.  I had originally stopped here when bringing Voltron home, but since that time the hardware at this site has changed and I wanted to update the site review.  (This station opened in October 2022).  

Accessibility

The West Michigan International site is in the parking lot of this heavy-duty truck business.  The site is 1 mile from I-94 at exit 72.  North of the highway and in an office park, this site, compared to the nearest Electrify America location, is a quick on and off stop.  The EVSE placement does not allow for pull-through parking, but a wide-open parking lot offers lots of space.

Amenities

Dining options include: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, Culvers, Dunkin’, Wendy’s (All towards the highway, stop first)

Shopping options include: None

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

Concentration

This site has a single power cabinet that is feeding 2 dispensers.  Each dispenser has two cables, and both can be used at the same time.  This station is the pull/back into configuration, which would make charging with Elektra’s front port location easy, but those with fender locations may need to stretch the cables to make the connections.  I had to back into the spot due to the Voltron’s charging port location.  The left unit has a remote connector holder installed due to clearance with the light pole.  The string cable management was already failing even though the new units had been installed for only a month or so.

Location

This site on the supports I-94 and is close enough to potentially support US-131.  At about 150 miles to Detroit and 150 miles to Chicago, this is about as mid-point between those 2 cities as you can get.

50 Mile Loop:

100 to 150 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

This site is listed in PlugShare as a 480kW site but I could only see a 300kVA transformer on site.  I am sure with just one car plugged in and charging that up to 300kW is quite possible.  The EV Connect app shows these as 180kW.  From the label on the power cabinet, up to 8 outputs totaling 480kW maximum power output.  The dispensers have one side with liquid cooled cables supporting 500A (the white handles) and one side with air-cooled cables at 200A limit.

Summary

The second new piece of charging hardware for me to use on this trip.  These new InCharge units look to be an upgrade from the old and less reliable ABB units that were installed originally and that I had used on my previous visit.  The dispensers are nice and good to see a mix of cables for different power needs (not that most consumers are going to understand).  I think my main problem here is that there is no ‘Stop’ button on the units, the cancel button would go to a screen telling you to end by tap or app.  There is no Stop button within the app.  The only way to stop charging is by setting the charge limit in the car or to call the support number and then they can stop the charge.  (If the person on the phone can stop the charge remotely, why is that functionality not in the app?)

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $10.48

Total kWh: 25.55 kWh

Time: 13 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 118 kW

Cost per kWh: $0.41

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
24	C	4	3	17

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com

BP – Battle Creek

Introduction

This is a site review from my trip to cover updates to the I-94 east/west corridor.  Site visits on November 8, 2024.

Business/Location Name	BP
Address	5195 Beckley Rd, Battle Creek, MI 49015
Network	Red E Charge
Station Details	One 240kW Dual Port EVSE
Cost	$0.45/kWh

The BP in Battle Creek, MI station was the 2nd charging stop on my trip to check out added charging options along the I-94 corridor. Having charged up at the previous stop, my time here was for only a site review.  This site is just 7 miles along I-94 from my previous stop; highlighting how the concentration of charging sites continues to get better over time.  (This station opened in September 2024).  

Accessibility

The BP gas station is 0.3 miles from exit 97 of I-94. This station is in the side parking lot of this gas station/convenience store.  The angled parking does not line up well with the 2 connection ports of the charger.  Additionally, there is not a lot of room to maneuver as the entrance from the road is opposite the charger location.  The spots are marked for EV charging only.  No pull thru options here for anyone pulling a trailer.

Amenities

This site does well for some close amenities.

Dining options include: Subway, Culver’s, Sakura Sushi, Qdoba, Bob Evans, Burger King, Panera Bread

Shopping options include: None

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  BP 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.  The angled parking near the entrance makes parking a little more complicated than other sites.

Location

I am happy to see that the Detroit based Red E Charge continues to invest in charging throughout the state.  This site directly supports I-94.  At about 120 miles to Detroit and 170 miles to Chicago, this offers another potential mid-point between those 2 cities.

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 240kW 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.  The onsite 500 kVA transform could support 2 of the 240kW units if demand warrants.

    

Summary

Other than the tricky parking, especially if you need to reverse into the spaces, this site is on part with many of the other Red E Charge sites I reviewed this year.  Built for expansion, it is good to see electric vehicle mobility supported by continually expanding infrastructure.  I would plan future stops here, if my travels take me by this location.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $5.34

Total kWh: 11.87

Time: 8 minutes

Average Charge Speed: 89kW (calculated)

Cost per kWh: $0.45

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
27	B	4	6	17

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com