Glad to know that they weren't shut down, just adding stalls. The more the merrier. And that hardware seems to be top-of-the-line. It looks like there are small, light blue dots on the heat map for St. George, UT, and Las Vegas, NV. Let's hope!
We travel between Tampa and north central Ohio a couple times a year. We used up our $500 EVgo credit with our Bolt in a year & a half. Now we do our road trips in an Ionia 5 and we still have about 17 months left on our free EA charging. Once that’s done, we’ll be taking advantage of those MB/Buc-ee’s and the Pilot/Flying J chargers for more reliability. I can’t wait to try out those Alpitronics!!! Thanks for the updates.
Love the MB project! Used their location in Athens, AL back in the summer and was impressed. Of note, Buc-ee’s is showing no sign of slowing in their own expansion. Benton, AR and West Memphis, AR are both building Buc-ee’s locations in the coming years. A part of MB’s growth may be similar to Love’s; new locations will receive it. Also, the Springfield, MO location has a Magic Dock V4 Tesla Supercharger (assuming Tesla hasn’t locked it). I’m curious if those other locations also have CCS capability through Magic Dock technology so MB puts them lower on the priority list. Great update as always, Walter!!
Thank you Landon. I too am impress with what I have seen to date and am really looking forward to this phase two proceeding. Should be great to go visit sites with the new charger smell in the coming weeks/months. Plus, I never need to find an excuse to go to a buc-ee's. I'll go anytime. Thx for watching.
Thanks Walter! Great insight. The overall trend is just great. 2025 is going to be the year where all range anxiety goes pretty close to zero for much of the country!
I agree. The TesSC opening alone could of accomplished that, but now we have pincer movements from many directions all happening at once. Thx for watching.
Buc-ee’s is building a site along I-75 in Dayton, Ohio and presumably this would be the location of another MB charging station. And if you look at the heat map between Atlanta and Detroit that’s essentially the I-75 corridor which has long been a vital corridor for the connections between the various auto plants from north to south, as well as being the route of choice for many snowbirds seeking the warming Florida weather after escaping Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and even parts of Southern Ontario.
So it was a beautiful day in Atlanta yesterday and I decided to go for a drive and try out the MB in Calhoun GA. I was particularly interested in the Alpitronic chargers (never used one) and also Bucee’s (never been to one.) I gotta say, the MB Alpitronic chargers were awesome. But… the Bucee’s experience was chaotic at best. They had 120 gas pumps and a building the size of a K Mart. It took 30 mins to get to the chargers and then another 30 to get back on the highway. So the whole “pit stop” was 90 mins. Comparatively, I went to a 28 stall Tesla Supercharger with Magic Dock at a QT in Covington GA. Charging time was pretty much the same, but 5 mins off the highway and 5 mins back on. Entire “pit stop” was 40 mins. Summary: VERY impressed with Alpitronic. Not so much with the chaos of Bucees. So for me, and my usage of MB Alpitronic sites, I’ll be looking forward to their “Phase 2”
Insightful. Buc-ee's on x-giving weekend sounds challenging. Thx for running the gauntlet for us. I saw your check in on PS. I too am looking forward to an Alpi charge. I am thinking the first one I get to do will be IONNA in Apex. I appreciate you sharing. Enjoy a quiet Sunday. You earned it.
BTW, WRGA released an interview with MB HPC on TH-cam which can be found via searching "[Podcast] Mercedes Opens Calhoun EV Charging Site". He has some insight into where the network is going. Yes, NACS. Yes Starbucks. Yes more Buc-ee's. Yes Simon Malls. Says 2.5k stalls under operation by `27.
@ I’m giving Bucee’s the Thanksgiving weekend “benefit of the doubt”. My brother reports that my experience there is sort of the norm. Apparently Bucee’s attracts crowds regularly. But to be fair, the QT was on I20. Bucee’s was on I75 north/south holiday corridor. By the way, both locations yesterday had those big-ass 2500 KVA transformers.
@ wow. I just listened to that podcast. Thanks for sharing. Here’s the thing: WHY is MB doing this given that they are one of the 8 partners at iONNA? I just don’t get why MB would be doing this In-House as well as via the LLC? Unless this was already in the works before iONNA was born and there’s some long term deal to flip these sites to the iONNA umbrella/branding at some point and merge the teams. Otherwise, why make this huge investment to compete with themselves? I suppose it’s not too different from GM - where GM have announced the new GM Energy standalone sites, they have the GM Energy - PFJ sites, and they are also part of iONNA. Or.. I’m wondering if MB and GM have doubts about iONNA’s promise of dominance? Whatever the case, looks like charging sites are just going in the ground all over the place. So taking a step back: this is ALL just awesome!
Mercedes Benz knows that the Alpitronic chargers are most reliable, but they still choose trash. I am so glad there is IONNA. They represent a single minded focus towards reliability. They have decided on the appropriate equipment and will not be double-minded.
Thanks, Walter! I could definitely see the West Coast implementation being a combination of Starbucks and Simon Properties locations. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd expect the Simon Properties location in Pismo Beach (the Premium Outlets) to be one of their first, and they'd be joining an underperforming Electrify America site as well as a V3 Supercharger site. Also, on I-5, a number of Starbucks locations already have ChargePoint units installed, and if they are continuing to use ChargePoint as their back-end software, I could see them using those sites as hosts (expanding ChargePoint's footprint at those sites).
Man, what I wouldn’t give to be able to spend a couple of hours with the Starbucks-OEM teams that are selecting stores and stations. There are some friction points for the existing Starbucks-Volvo stations in the PNW with underpowered units and/or underserved stations (2 vs 4 stalls).
@anthonyc8499 Yeah, I've seen that. If they're building in California, they need to go big with the Mercedes brand. Though a lot of Starbucks locations have very limited parking. Is it possible that they are ok with one or two 400 kW units?
@@newscoulomb3705 much like your observation on the insufficient size of PFJ stations, two 400kW units to serve 4-stalls would be palty in 2025, especially along the west coast with new vehicle adoption rates of between 16% to 25%. I think Starbucks will need to be choosy in their site selection to ensure their Mercedes stations are sized appropriately. Their Buc-ee’s sites aren’t small and those Southeastern EV adoption rates are a fraction of the West’s.
I too hope they will go big and do both SB & SM in CA. I am curious how this will pay out. The preliminary info is a bit confusing. Thank you for watching.
@anthonyc8499 Part of that criticism for the size of PFJ sites is because of the location itself. Travel plazas are big with diverse amenities, so having six to eight cars wanting to charge at the same time is reasonable. The Starbucks I've seen in California are mostly small, with very limited space. For many, even a two-stall charger would tax the parking lot. We'll see, but I could see Mercedes needing to expand parking lots or buy adjacent properties to put in the same size stations they have at Buc-ees.
The permit for the location in Johnstown, CO was filed a couple of months ago. There are other sites in TX with permits. It seems like they will all have the same setup. 6 chargers. 4 with dual ports and 2 400kW dedicated chargers.
Some of phase 2 likely includes under construction and planned Buc-ee's locations like Brunswick and Forsyth GA and Gallaway TN, incidentally very close to Ford's upcoming EV plant known as BlueOval City.
A new Buc-ees opens up in Amarillo, TX on Dec 16. But as far as I know, this location will only contain Tesla Superchargers, which will put 2 Supercharger sites within just a couple miles of each other in Amarillo.
They plan on opening 400 stations and I think Buc-ee's has 40ish properties so the other 360 locations might come out of the malls and MB dealers...? Their strategy appears to link big metros together. See for example the dots connecting Chicago-Dallas.
I have not heard of dealerships. It would make sense, but so far there has not been any indication. I think there is more to this story we are not being told as of yet.
I had a good conversation with a DCFC station designer who told me that NEVI can get in the way of development in a number of states because of the federal restrictions or state requirements.
Thanks, Walter. I've charged at Buc-ee's in Florence SC last March in the R1T. It was awesome.
Glad to know that they weren't shut down, just adding stalls. The more the merrier. And that hardware seems to be top-of-the-line. It looks like there are small, light blue dots on the heat map for St. George, UT, and Las Vegas, NV. Let's hope!
Like the Redhat T-Shirt.
I'm a Fedora Kinoite user. Poor man's RedHat lol.
Red Hat is free. Just need to sign up for a dev account and you get ten non-prod lics. I run it on my daily driver Dell. Fedora is kul 2. stay safe.
We travel between Tampa and north central Ohio a couple times a year. We used up our $500 EVgo credit with our Bolt in a year & a half. Now we do our road trips in an Ionia 5 and we still have about 17 months left on our free EA charging. Once that’s done, we’ll be taking advantage of those MB/Buc-ee’s and the Pilot/Flying J chargers for more reliability. I can’t wait to try out those Alpitronics!!! Thanks for the updates.
Real fast on EGMP. You wont spend long on property. Unless you are in it for the brisket like me. ;-}
Yeah, that brisket is really good!!
Love the MB project! Used their location in Athens, AL back in the summer and was impressed. Of note, Buc-ee’s is showing no sign of slowing in their own expansion. Benton, AR and West Memphis, AR are both building Buc-ee’s locations in the coming years. A part of MB’s growth may be similar to Love’s; new locations will receive it.
Also, the Springfield, MO location has a Magic Dock V4 Tesla Supercharger (assuming Tesla hasn’t locked it). I’m curious if those other locations also have CCS capability through Magic Dock technology so MB puts them lower on the priority list. Great update as always, Walter!!
Thank you Landon. I too am impress with what I have seen to date and am really looking forward to this phase two proceeding. Should be great to go visit sites with the new charger smell in the coming weeks/months. Plus, I never need to find an excuse to go to a buc-ee's. I'll go anytime. Thx for watching.
9:00 Mercedes is a partner in the Ionna EV Joint Venture
Thanks Walter! Great insight. The overall trend is just great. 2025 is going to be the year where all range anxiety goes pretty close to zero for much of the country!
I agree. The TesSC opening alone could of accomplished that, but now we have pincer movements from many directions all happening at once. Thx for watching.
Buc-ee’s is building a site along I-75 in Dayton, Ohio and presumably this would be the location of another MB charging station. And if you look at the heat map between Atlanta and Detroit that’s essentially the I-75 corridor which has long been a vital corridor for the connections between the various auto plants from north to south, as well as being the route of choice for many snowbirds seeking the warming Florida weather after escaping Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and even parts of Southern Ontario.
So it was a beautiful day in Atlanta yesterday and I decided to go for a drive and try out the MB in Calhoun GA. I was particularly interested in the Alpitronic chargers (never used one) and also Bucee’s (never been to one.)
I gotta say, the MB Alpitronic chargers were awesome. But… the Bucee’s experience was chaotic at best. They had 120 gas pumps and a building the size of a K Mart. It took 30 mins to get to the chargers and then another 30 to get back on the highway. So the whole “pit stop” was 90 mins.
Comparatively, I went to a 28 stall Tesla Supercharger with Magic Dock at a QT in Covington GA. Charging time was pretty much the same, but 5 mins off the highway and 5 mins back on. Entire “pit stop” was 40 mins.
Summary: VERY impressed with Alpitronic. Not so much with the chaos of Bucees.
So for me, and my usage of MB Alpitronic sites, I’ll be looking forward to their “Phase 2”
Insightful. Buc-ee's on x-giving weekend sounds challenging. Thx for running the gauntlet for us. I saw your check in on PS. I too am looking forward to an Alpi charge. I am thinking the first one I get to do will be IONNA in Apex. I appreciate you sharing. Enjoy a quiet Sunday. You earned it.
BTW, WRGA released an interview with MB HPC on TH-cam which can be found via searching "[Podcast] Mercedes Opens Calhoun EV Charging Site". He has some insight into where the network is going. Yes, NACS. Yes Starbucks. Yes more Buc-ee's. Yes Simon Malls. Says 2.5k stalls under operation by `27.
@ I’m giving Bucee’s the Thanksgiving weekend “benefit of the doubt”. My brother reports that my experience there is sort of the norm. Apparently Bucee’s attracts crowds regularly.
But to be fair, the QT was on I20. Bucee’s was on I75 north/south holiday corridor.
By the way, both locations yesterday had those big-ass 2500 KVA transformers.
@ wow. I just listened to that podcast. Thanks for sharing. Here’s the thing: WHY is MB doing this given that they are one of the 8 partners at iONNA? I just don’t get why MB would be doing this In-House as well as via the LLC? Unless this was already in the works before iONNA was born and there’s some long term deal to flip these sites to the iONNA umbrella/branding at some point and merge the teams. Otherwise, why make this huge investment to compete with themselves?
I suppose it’s not too different from GM - where GM have announced the new GM Energy standalone sites, they have the GM Energy - PFJ sites, and they are also part of iONNA.
Or.. I’m wondering if MB and GM have doubts about iONNA’s promise of dominance?
Whatever the case, looks like charging sites are just going in the ground all over the place. So taking a step back: this is ALL just awesome!
Mercedes Benz knows that the Alpitronic chargers are most reliable, but they still choose trash. I am so glad there is IONNA. They represent a single minded focus towards reliability. They have decided on the appropriate equipment and will not be double-minded.
Alpitronic wasn't available yet in North America when MB started phase 1.
I agree. They have a best in class approach. It has been a pleasure to watch this new CPO network unfold. Thx for watching.
Thanks, Walter! I could definitely see the West Coast implementation being a combination of Starbucks and Simon Properties locations. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd expect the Simon Properties location in Pismo Beach (the Premium Outlets) to be one of their first, and they'd be joining an underperforming Electrify America site as well as a V3 Supercharger site. Also, on I-5, a number of Starbucks locations already have ChargePoint units installed, and if they are continuing to use ChargePoint as their back-end software, I could see them using those sites as hosts (expanding ChargePoint's footprint at those sites).
Man, what I wouldn’t give to be able to spend a couple of hours with the Starbucks-OEM teams that are selecting stores and stations. There are some friction points for the existing Starbucks-Volvo stations in the PNW with underpowered units and/or underserved stations (2 vs 4 stalls).
@anthonyc8499 Yeah, I've seen that. If they're building in California, they need to go big with the Mercedes brand. Though a lot of Starbucks locations have very limited parking. Is it possible that they are ok with one or two 400 kW units?
@@newscoulomb3705 much like your observation on the insufficient size of PFJ stations, two 400kW units to serve 4-stalls would be palty in 2025, especially along the west coast with new vehicle adoption rates of between 16% to 25%. I think Starbucks will need to be choosy in their site selection to ensure their Mercedes stations are sized appropriately. Their Buc-ee’s sites aren’t small and those Southeastern EV adoption rates are a fraction of the West’s.
I too hope they will go big and do both SB & SM in CA. I am curious how this will pay out. The preliminary info is a bit confusing. Thank you for watching.
@anthonyc8499 Part of that criticism for the size of PFJ sites is because of the location itself. Travel plazas are big with diverse amenities, so having six to eight cars wanting to charge at the same time is reasonable. The Starbucks I've seen in California are mostly small, with very limited space. For many, even a two-stall charger would tax the parking lot. We'll see, but I could see Mercedes needing to expand parking lots or buy adjacent properties to put in the same size stations they have at Buc-ees.
5:23 Green? That looks Blue to me. Walter you okay?
it looked more green on my monitor. I noticed the same thing when I watched it on TH-cam.
The permit for the location in Johnstown, CO was filed a couple of months ago. There are other sites in TX with permits. It seems like they will all have the same setup. 6 chargers. 4 with dual ports and 2 400kW dedicated chargers.
Walter, any idea if the newly proposed Mebane, NC Buc-ee's location will have MB charging infrastructure?
Yes. According to an interview just released, they will install at all new Buc-ee's locations.
Some of phase 2 likely includes under construction and planned Buc-ee's locations like Brunswick and Forsyth GA and Gallaway TN, incidentally very close to Ford's upcoming EV plant known as BlueOval City.
Mebane, NC too is the proud owner of a coming soon Buc-ee's pip. Gonna be great to have that as an option on I-40. Thank you for watching.
A new Buc-ees opens up in Amarillo, TX on Dec 16. But as far as I know, this location will only contain Tesla Superchargers, which will put 2 Supercharger sites within just a couple miles of each other in Amarillo.
Buc-ee's are good people on the back end. Love their work. Amarillo just got a PFJ if you need one. Stay safe.
Yes. There’s another PFJ in western Oklahoma too, that helps take the pressure off the useless Francis locations
Sevierville is a new Buc'ces location. Opened this year I think.
I would like to go there, but I-40 is still closed. Not many options that don't add 2hrs to the trip each way.
They plan on opening 400 stations and I think Buc-ee's has 40ish properties so the other 360 locations might come out of the malls and MB dealers...? Their strategy appears to link big metros together. See for example the dots connecting Chicago-Dallas.
I have not heard of dealerships. It would make sense, but so far there has not been any indication. I think there is more to this story we are not being told as of yet.
Springfield, MO is under construction. I put a picture in Plugshare. How do you add a new station that is under construction?
There is a new station option & you have a choice at the bottom to either list it as coming soon or open
I was able to add the station to Plugshare. I also uploaded a picture to the entry.
Good to know. That location also has a Supercharger site with V4 dispensers with working Magic Dock.
Do you think that with Trump in office, charging is gonna slow it or it's gonna keep growing.. just a little concern here
Only a very small percentage of the ones going in receive public funds.
I had a good conversation with a DCFC station designer who told
me that NEVI can get in the way of development in a number of states because of the federal restrictions or state requirements.
Do the Alpitronic chargers have an overlying Network interface like the ChargePoint units?
@irishskipper9620 phy uplink is either cell or hardwired. You can also do both.
@@thenetworkarchitectchannel Is there an MB app to use the Alpitronic units or can you use ChargePoint or EVGo app? Or are they credit card only?