Family Fare – Grand Rapids

Introduction

Trip to visit all the southern lower Michigan Tesla Supercharger sites open to non-Tesla vehicles.  Site visit on July 21, 2025

Business/Location Name	Family Fare
Address	2755 Lake Michigan Dr NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504
Network	Tesla
Station Details	8 Stalls (2 sets of 4 dispensers, total 750kW site power)
Cost	$0.53 per kWh, $0.38 per kWh for membership

The Family Fare in Grand Rapids station was the 9th charging stop on my trip to check the southern lower Michigan Tesla sites.  This is one of the newest sites, and thus is supporting the V3.5 hardware.  Based on the usage chart in the Tesla app, this site sees steady use throughout the day, but never a point where few chargers are available.  (This station opened in January 2025).  

Accessibility

This Family Fare site is in the parking lot of the supermarket business.  The site is 1.7 miles from I-196 at exit 75.  Heading west from the exit following M-45.  In the southwest corner of the parking lot.  The charge points are easy to locate from the nearest intersection.  The stalls are arranged along the outer edge of the parking lot.  The dispenser in the corner is placed with accessibility in mind.  There is no pull-through spot at this location.

Amenities

Dining options include: Starbucks, Westside Social

Shopping options include: Family Fare Supermarket

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Speedway gas station across the street

Concentration

This is a smaller 8 stall V3.5 location.  The dispensers are arranged along the outer edge of the parking lot.  The power cabinets and transformer are placed at the end of the row of dispensers.  The 8 stalls are using the newer V4 cabinets that have the longer cables, thus eliminating most parking concerns for vehicles that don’t follow the Tesla charging port location practice.

Location

This site supports I-96 east/west interstate and the US-23 north/south highway.  About 170 miles to Detroit and 75 miles to Lansing.  To the north, Traverse City 150 miles and South Bend, IN about 120 miles.

50 Mile Loop:

100 to 150 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

The currently installed V3 power cabinets can produce up to 500V and 600A.  The power cabinets are connected by the high voltage DC bus, and thus can share power amongst all the dispensers.  Of course, this 500V limitation reduces the peak charging speeds for some 800V architecture vehicles, but the 600A output works well for lower voltage higher amperage vehicles.  Since I am on this trip with Elektra, the 200A, 80kW limit of the vehicle will not be stressing these units at all.  With only two 250kW cabinets the 750kVA transformer provides plenty of site power.

Summary

This was another stop where I saw other non-Tesla charging.  In addition to the Model 3 and the Model Y at this site there was also a Nissan Aryia.  After another quick charge, I was off to see the construction status on the soon to be open NEVI funded site in Grand Rapids and then onto the next charge.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $2.57

Total kWh: 6.7681 kWh

Time: 7 min

Average Charge Speed: 58 kW

Cost per kWh: $0.38

(From 62% to 70%)

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

Alternatives:

Meijer – 2425 Alpine Ave NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49544 - $0.56/kWh – 350kW x 6

(Electrify America)

Meijer – 2425 Alpine Ave NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49544 - $0.67/kWh – 300kW x 6

(Rivian)

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com

Meijer – Holland

Introduction

Trip to visit all the southern lower Michigan Tesla Supercharger sites open to non-Tesla vehicles.  This trip took place on July 21, 2025

Business/Location Name	Meijer
Address	746 E 16th St, Holland, MI 49423
Network	Tesla
Station Details	12 Stalls (3 sets of 4 dispensers, total 750kW site power)
Cost	$0.53 per kWh, $0.38 per kWh for membership

The Meijer in Lansing station was the 8th charging stop on my trip to check the southern lower Michigan Tesla sites.  A nicely placed V3 site with plenty of activity.  Based on the usage chart in the Tesla app, this site sees steady use but is not overly busy.  (This station opened in September 2022).  

Accessibility

This Meijer site is in the parking lot of the superstore business.  The site is 2.7 miles from I-196 at exit 52.  Also, accessing from US-31, the site is 1.2 miles away from the exit for I-196 Business Loop. The charge points are easy to locate once you have navigated to the Meijer parking lot.  The stalls are along the western edge of the parking lot.  No pull through parking stall.

Amenities

Dining options include: Pizza Ranch, El Rancho, Wendy’s, Burger King, 7 Brew Coffee, Tap Room, Wooden Shoe Restaurant, Office Bar & Grill

Shopping options include: Meijer

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Meijer gas station in same parking lot

Concentration

This is a standard 12 stall V3 location.  The dispensers are arranged along the edge of the parking lot.  The power cabinets and the transformer are placed at the end of the row of dispensers.  There are no alternate placement dispensers to help those that might have a charge port that doesn’t work well with the V3 short cables.  Most likely those vehicles could use one of the dispensers at the end of the row.

Location

This site is along BL-196/US-31.  It is 5 miles north of where BL-196 splits from I-196 and 1.4 miles south from where US-31 joins up with BL-196.  Along the west side of Michigan travel distances to major cities are: North 170 miles to Traverse City, East 90 miles to Lansing and South 90 miles to South Bend, IN.

50 Mile Loop:

100 to 150 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

The currently installed V3 power cabinets can produce up to 500V and 600A.  The power cabinets are connected by the high voltage DC bus, and thus can share power amongst all the dispensers.  Of course, this 500V limitation reduces the peak charging speeds for some 800V architecture vehicles, but the 600A output works well for lower voltage higher amperage vehicles.  Since I am on this trip with Elektra, the 200A, 80kW limit of the vehicle will not be stressing these units at all.  750kVA is at the low end for a 12 stall site, but can support all three power cabinets at their rated 250kW power output.

Summary

Former Shell Recharge level 2 stations are now abandoned at this site.  With the rebranding of Shell Recharge to Shell there have been many sites that are no longer supported.  I hope that Meijer and their apparent partner EVgo can pick up support for these sites, but given Meijer recent movement in the EV space, I don’t really think that this will be the case.  Bad news aside, I had a good charging experience at the Tesla site here.  I pulled into the end stall next to a nice blue Chevy Bolt.  There were 2 other Tesla charging, with one family enjoying a picnic while their car charged.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $6.69

Total kWh: 17.6102 kWh

Time: 16 min

Average Charge Speed: 66.04kW

Cost per kWh: $0.38

(From 48% to 70%)

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
32	B	4	7	21

Alternatives:

Dealership charging options only

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com

Meijer – Stevensville

Introduction

Trip to visit all the southern lower Michigan Tesla Supercharger sites open to non-Tesla vehicles.  This trip took place on July 21, 2025

Business/Location Name	Meijer
Address	5019 Red Arrow Hwy, Stevensville, MI 49127
Network	Tesla
Station Details	12 Stalls (3 sets of 4 dispensers, total 1000kW site power)
Cost	$0.47 per kWh, $0.36 per kWh for membership

The Meijer in Stevensville station was the 7th charging stop on my trip to check the southern lower Michigan Tesla sites.  The last of the not so busy sites for a while on this trip.  Based on the usage chart in the Tesla app, this site sees steady use but is not overly busy.  (This station opened in July 2023).  

Accessibility

This Meijer site is in the parking lot of the superstore business.  The site is 0.4 miles from I-94 at exit 23.  The charge points are easy to locate once you have navigated to the Meijer parking lot.  The stalls are along the western edge of the parking lot.  No pull through parking stall.

Amenities

Dining options include: Biggby Coffee, 

Shopping options include: Meijer, AutoZone

Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air):  Meijer gas station in same parking lot

Concentration

This is a standard 12 stall V3 location.  The dispensers are arranged along the edge of the parking lot.  The power cabinets and the transformer are placed at the end of the row of dispensers.  There are no alternate placement dispensers to help those that might have a charge port that doesn’t work well with the V3 short cables.  Most likely those vehicles could use one of the dispensers at the end of the row.

Location

This site supports I-94 east/west interstate.  This is the furthest west Tesla location in Michigan.  Connecting major cities include Grand Rapids – 95 miles NNE, Chicago – 95 miles W, and Indianapolis – 190 miles S.

50 Mile Loop:

150 Mile Range Estimate:

Speed

The currently installed V3 power cabinets can produce up to 500V and 600A.  The power cabinets are connected by the high voltage DC bus, and thus can share power amongst all the dispensers.  Of course, this 500V limitation reduces the peak charging speeds for some 800V architecture vehicles, but the 600A output works well for lower voltage higher amperage vehicles.  Since I am on this trip with Elektra, the 200A, 80kW limit of the vehicle will not be stressing these units at all.  The 1000kVA transformer here, same as the last site, provides enough power for the 12 charging stalls most of the time.

Summary

I arrived to a completely empty site and opted to park at the far end stall.  Shortly after my arrival a Cybertruck arrived and parked towards the other end.  He had to kind of angle in between the stalls to get back far enough for the V3 cable to comfortably reach the trucks charge port.  Seems to me that this site was added after there was enough traffic at the nearby Benton Harbor location to deem another station was needed for the amount of traffic being served.

What I paid for this stop:

Total Cost: $5.66

Total kWh: 15.7348 kWh

Time: 15 min

Average Charge Speed: 63kW

Cost per kWh: $0.36

(From 50% - 70%)

Total Score (Max 44)	Score	Accessibility	Amenities	Usability
36	A	5	6	25

Alternatives:

Amoco - 4609 Red Arrow Hwy, Stevensville, MI 49127 - $0.45/kWh(+$0.50) - 320kW x 2 

(Red E Charge)

Dunkin’ - 2680 M-139, Benton Harbor, MI 49022 - $0.62/kWh - 300kW x 6 (Rivian)

Questions or Comments:

dantheevman@gmail.com