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I don't know if this will help anyone, but I thought I'd share some data from a 8-day, 3,300 mile trip around the midwest that I took last week in my Model 3, including a stint across the Upper Peninsula. This is the second year I've done this trip, and honestly, nothing much has gotten better in a year. In fact, it's gotten mildly worse (details below).
As we all know, there's currently no DCFC infrastructure of any kind in the UP. I've heard people say that the charger in Norway is going to solve all our problems, but I think the problems up here go beyond that. True, one DCFC in the middle of the UP will make it possible to go between the Mackinac Bridge and Minnesota/Wisconsin in one trip - but that ignores one of the big UP draws: tourism.
From when I left the Mackinaw City Supercharger to when I arrived at a DC Fast Charger in Duluth Minnesota - a distance of 420 miles per Google Maps - I had actually driven 1,050 miles between DC Fast Chargers, in order to see the sights in the UP I wanted to see.
Destinations (and charging):
Sault Ste Marie
The Hampton Inn in Sault Ste Marie has added 4x J1772 chargers (all in handicapped spots, weirdly) making them the only hotel with J1772 in the entire UP to the best of my knowledge.
Marquette
Downtown Marquette's single dual-pedestal J1772 ChargePoint L2 charger was happily empty both times I needed to use it, but the garage it's located in does not allow overnight parking, and the ChargePoint station shuts itself off at midnight. No hotel in town has J1772 (or Tesla) L2, so plan charges accordingly.
At least the Quality Inn has block heater outlets that the staff allow EVs to use, and are powered year round.
Houghton
Houghton has actually backpedaled in charging availability. Prior to this year, the 2x NEMA 14-50 outlets in the downtown park had been available (or at least, not prohibited) for use by EVs. Last year when I visited, the town's only J1772 was in use by a Leaf, and when I went over to the downtown park, I found a Model X on one 14-50, and I took the other.
Now, the city has put up signs prohibiting EVs from using those 14-50s and directing people to the one single J1772 in town:
That one J1772 is great, but again it's just one J1772 so it takes forever, and has a high probability of being already in use, is non-networked, so you can't tell ahead of time if it's free, and is again located in a garage that from November 1 -> April 30 does not allow overnight parking.
On the plus side, it's not a bad view:
Conclusion:
The DCFC going in in Norway is a big step for the UP. But it's nowhere near enough for EVs to feel safe traveling up here, in a place where tourism is a big business.
Tesla is supposedly putting Superchargers in, but there's no sign of any progress on them, and they only help Teslas, obviously.
I have been debating a letter writing campaign (or email, it's 2020) to hotels across the UP, asking that they install J1772 chargers, so at least overnight charges for visitors can be possible without the hassle of working around those closed overnight garages in Marquette and Houghton, and the single points of failure they represent even in the summer. I don't know how successful such a plea would be from one person.
Right now, a tourist's trip across the UP involves many hours of sitting waiting on Level 2. That's not going to fly for most people, and I suspect they just will plan vacations elsewhere once they buy a BEV. I really hope more infrastructure gets built up here ASAP.
At least while you wait there's good scenery
As we all know, there's currently no DCFC infrastructure of any kind in the UP. I've heard people say that the charger in Norway is going to solve all our problems, but I think the problems up here go beyond that. True, one DCFC in the middle of the UP will make it possible to go between the Mackinac Bridge and Minnesota/Wisconsin in one trip - but that ignores one of the big UP draws: tourism.
From when I left the Mackinaw City Supercharger to when I arrived at a DC Fast Charger in Duluth Minnesota - a distance of 420 miles per Google Maps - I had actually driven 1,050 miles between DC Fast Chargers, in order to see the sights in the UP I wanted to see.
Destinations (and charging):
Sault Ste Marie
The Hampton Inn in Sault Ste Marie has added 4x J1772 chargers (all in handicapped spots, weirdly) making them the only hotel with J1772 in the entire UP to the best of my knowledge.
Marquette
Downtown Marquette's single dual-pedestal J1772 ChargePoint L2 charger was happily empty both times I needed to use it, but the garage it's located in does not allow overnight parking, and the ChargePoint station shuts itself off at midnight. No hotel in town has J1772 (or Tesla) L2, so plan charges accordingly.
At least the Quality Inn has block heater outlets that the staff allow EVs to use, and are powered year round.
Houghton
Houghton has actually backpedaled in charging availability. Prior to this year, the 2x NEMA 14-50 outlets in the downtown park had been available (or at least, not prohibited) for use by EVs. Last year when I visited, the town's only J1772 was in use by a Leaf, and when I went over to the downtown park, I found a Model X on one 14-50, and I took the other.
Now, the city has put up signs prohibiting EVs from using those 14-50s and directing people to the one single J1772 in town:
That one J1772 is great, but again it's just one J1772 so it takes forever, and has a high probability of being already in use, is non-networked, so you can't tell ahead of time if it's free, and is again located in a garage that from November 1 -> April 30 does not allow overnight parking.
On the plus side, it's not a bad view:
Conclusion:
The DCFC going in in Norway is a big step for the UP. But it's nowhere near enough for EVs to feel safe traveling up here, in a place where tourism is a big business.
Tesla is supposedly putting Superchargers in, but there's no sign of any progress on them, and they only help Teslas, obviously.
I have been debating a letter writing campaign (or email, it's 2020) to hotels across the UP, asking that they install J1772 chargers, so at least overnight charges for visitors can be possible without the hassle of working around those closed overnight garages in Marquette and Houghton, and the single points of failure they represent even in the summer. I don't know how successful such a plea would be from one person.
Right now, a tourist's trip across the UP involves many hours of sitting waiting on Level 2. That's not going to fly for most people, and I suspect they just will plan vacations elsewhere once they buy a BEV. I really hope more infrastructure gets built up here ASAP.
At least while you wait there's good scenery
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