Introduction
Part of the series to visit and review all the Rivian Adventure Network sites in Michigan, post the upgrades to all sites to support all electric vehicles. Site visit conducted on September 28, 2025.
The Grand Traverse Mall – Traverse City station was the 3rd charging stop. While there are other fast charging options in Traverse City, this site is the largest by dispenser count and power output capability. Also, relatively speaking, the price here is reasonable. (Originally opened June 2023. This station opened to all electric vehicles in July 2025).
Accessibility
The Grand Traverse Mall site is on the south side of the mall parking lot, close to the Pet Supplies Plus. The site is 0.5 miles from US-31. East along South Airport Rd brings you to the closest mall entrance. Five stalls in a row with perpendicular parking and one dedicated pull through parking stall. The pull through is next to the mall perimeter road, so traffic can be a concern.
Amenities
Dining options include: Starbucks, Food Arabia, Dairy Queen, Frida’s Mexican Grill
Shopping options include: Pet Supplies Plus, Target, Mall
Car-related services (windshield cleaning, air): None
Concentration
This is the latest standard 6 station layout for Rivian. There are several pull-in stalls and a pull through stall for those pulling a trailer. The longer cables on the second-generation hardware remove most concerns about cables reaching charge ports. There is a benefit that there are 6 units, this distributes the power across enough stalls to keep traffic flowing.
Location
This site supports US-31 and related north/south traffic. Travel stops onward from here include Mackinaw City 110 miles away, Saginaw 150 miles away, Lansing 180 miles away and Grand Rapids 145 miles.
50 Mile Loop:
150 Mile Range Estimate:
Speed
The Rivian sites follow a standard layout for speed/power. There are six dispensers that are configured in trios(A/B/C). Two power cabinets can then each split power between three linked dispensers. Each set shares a combined 300kW output. The dispensers have liquid cooled cables supporting 500A. Unless a site is full, most vehicles on the market today are going to arrive and be delivered with all the power they can request. At this site the transformer is slightly undersized at 500 kVA, and power balances when nearing the limit of site output power. However, the likelihood of a full station is very low.
Summary
In Traverse City, this is the largest and arguably the best DC Fast Charging site. There is an older Tesla location and several other fast charging locations, but none have the same number of ports and support the same power output. This might be the only site in this area my car could reach charging speeds above 200kW. Stop in after 7pm for some of the most reasonable prices I have seen during this trip. The fact that the pull through spot is right along the perimeter road is a little concerning for traffic and the walk into the mall is a long one, and would be especially so in the colder winter months. With more unsuccessful on the phone troubleshooting with Rivian support on why the site wasn’t showing in the app, I was charged up and ready to move on to my next and final stop for the day.
What I paid for this stop:
Total Cost: $23.75
Total kWh: 41.6622 kWh
Time: 14 minutes
Average Charge Speed: 178.6 kWh
Cost per kWh: $0.57
Alternatives:
Clinch Park - 107 E Grandview Pkwy, Traverse City, MI 49684 - $0.45/kWh – 120kW x 2 (Red E Charge)
Burger King - 2504 US-31, Traverse City, MI 49686 - $0.50/kWh+($0.50) – 160kW x 2 (Red E Charge)
Questions or Comments:
dantheevman@gmail.com
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