Host of New (non-Tesla) Chargers Planned for Western Minnesota

[jhneuerburg]

2023 has been a great year for rural Minnesota Superchargers! Fergus Falls, Little Falls, Tofte, Marshall, Willmar to name a few... There are still a lot of gaps the further you travel away from the main highways, which can make winter travel difficult on the colder sub-zero stretches of Winter.

I thought I'd share the map of what Ottertail Power has planned for Fast and Slow chargers in western Minnesota (found posted on the new fast chargers located in Fergus Falls, MN). With the exceptions of Fergus Falls and Bemidji, this covers a lot of new territory that will bring more peace of mind to our 2-EV household

Blue = DC Fast Charger (I believe these sites will also receive L2 Chargers)
Red = L2 Charger

 

[Brolan]

Nice. But the problem with non-Tesla charging is can you rely on them working when you go up there?

 

[tharasix]

FWIW, I've never had an issue using ZEF chargers with my CHAdeMO adapter around Minnesota.

 

[jhneuerburg]

Brolan, your point is valid. My experience with ZEF has been terrible. Their L2 chargers almost always seem to work, however I have had about a 20% success rate with their CCS connections (which also tend to come with a high connection fee). I have had a 100% success rate with Tesla, Shell, and Chargepoint thus far.

These new chargers are getting installed and backed by Ottertail Power Company (as a loss leader). I do expect that as a local and dependable power company, their chargers will be more dependable than ZEFs, but that is speculation mixed with optimism.

 

[Brolan]

My wife and I are going up to Thief River Falls next summer for some family genealogy research. I’m planning on using the Supercharger at Bemidji as a base to get in and out. But if some of these chargers are complete it would make a good backup.