Supercharger - Sault Ste. Marie, MI

[mociaf9]

Having seen, in other threads, that Tesla recently procured land from Meijer for Superchargers in both Hudsonville, MI (see the first link in this post of mine) and Swartz Creek, MI (see the attachment in this post by @79yofridge ), I was reminded of a post in the Escanaba Supercharger thread by @emupilot which discussed the Escanaba Planning Commission meeting for that project (this post). It quotes from the minutes of the February 26th Escanaba Planning Commission meeting regarding Tesla's supercharger plans for Michigan thus:

Commissioner [...] Gierke then asked where the next closest charging stations are. Suarez replied they are in the process of putting stations in in Swartz Creek, MI; Sault St. Marie, MI; and Hudsonville, MI, it was also noted that Green Bay, WI has one.

I think Ms. Suarez's answer may have been only about the locations she or her group were responsible for developing since she didn't mention either Wausau, WI or Gaylord, MI. Wausau was already operational and Gaylord pretty much just waiting for activation. Anyway, I checked the Chippewa County property records (search "Tesla") and found a record--more or less identical to the ones from Hudsonville and Swartz Creek--for Tesla getting land at the Meijer in Sault Ste. Marie as well (see attached/screen capture below). All three of those records were created in February 2019, which to my mind further ties them all together. And since Hudsonville already started construction, I wouldn't be surprised if the other two also start soon. Though, I haven't been able to find any information on permitting status or planning/zoning records for this location, so, as it relates to Sault Ste. Marie anyway, that "soon" should maybe be read with air quotes.

Address: 1138 W. 3 Mile Rd.; Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783 (searching that address in google maps shows the location in the wrong place for some reason, but 1138 is also the address of the Meijer Gas Station)


@BlueShift @Chuq -- Not sure whether additional confirmation is needed for a supercharge.info dot.

 

[Chuq]

I think it's close enough.. and everything seems to line up... great sleuthing work - now added
Note I've used the dot from the Tesla coming soon map that was located on the Canada side of the border, I figured they're not going to have one there if they're having one in the US side.

 

[mociaf9]

I don't know. They'll still have to do something over there if they want to claim the TransCanada as complete. And even without the TC thing, they'd eventually have to have sites on both sides of the border. The size and regional importance of the cities and their traffic to/from make it pretty much necessary for a robust network. The question is one of timing. In the short term Tesla could try to "cheat" and say this location covers the portion of the TC through the Soo in Canada, but I sorta doubt most Canadians would think so. I'd tend to agree. It'd be a decent enough detour just on distance. Acceptable, if a bit of a pain. But then you add in the hassle/delay of the border crossing...

 

[tmoz]

Looks like this was Michigan week - you hit the jackpot!
Three new adds this week.

 

[AB3DC]

Looks like this was Michigan week - you hit the jackpot!
Three new adds this week.

About time...

 

[glenhurst]

Hurray! This suggests work on the Escanaba will begin soon. Rumor has it that one is supposed to be ready in June. Then my annual Minneapolis-to-Montreal trip becomes a breeze.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Along Primary Interstates: I-75
Along US Numbered Highways (<=5mi): None
Along Auxiliary Interstates: None

I-75:
From: Gaylord, MI - 113.5 miles
To: Canada at Sault Ste. Marie, MI @Canada - 3.1 miles
Diversion: 1.6 miles
From: Bay City, MI - 229.5 miles

From: Escanaba, MI (Permit, US-2, MI-117, MI-28, I-75) - 170.3 miles
To: Sudbury, ON (I-75, u, TCH) - 192.9 miles

 

[mociaf9]

Well, we've now got confirmation of active supercharger construction at both Hudsonville AND Swartz Creek. Is anyone in the area able to go swing by this location and see if we get the hat trick?

 

[mrau]

@mociaf9 We also have Clare, Mi under construction at this time. So he have a Hat Trick...looking for Grand Slam with Sault Ste Marie.

 

[mociaf9]

We also have Clare, Mi under construction at this time. So he have a Hat Trick...looking for Grand Slam with Sault Ste Marie.

That's for Michigan in general. I meant specifically about the 3 locations that were originally mentioned in the Escanaba Planning Commission meeting in February 2018 (see my opening post for info on this). Including Clare, this site, and hopefully Escanaba, if they could manage to sneak in one additional unknown site that no one has found yet**, Tesla could hit Michigan for six this spring/summer!

** I doubt this is the case, but I couldn't come up with any appropriate sports idiom for 5 (i.e. only including Escanaba in the list), so I had to add a dark horse location to get to 6 and allow the cricketing term.

 

[MarcoRP]

That's for Michigan in general. I meant specifically about the 3 locations that were originally mentioned in the Escanaba Planning Commission meeting in February 2018 (see my opening post for info on this). Including Clare, this site, and hopefully Escanaba, if they could manage to sneak in one additional unknown site that no one has found yet**, Tesla could hit Michigan for six this spring/summer!

** I doubt this is the case, but I couldn't come up with any appropriate sports idiom for 5 (i.e. only including Escanaba in the list), so I had to add a dark horse location to get to 6 and allow the cricketing term.

A quintet? Thanks @mociaf9 for the find, except that I'm not exactly keen of the location being in the States, in case someone might have to cross the border for a day? How do the border guards react to people crossing for less than a day?

 

[outdoors]

A quintet? Thanks @mociaf9 for the find, except that I'm not exactly keen of the location being in the States, in case someone might have to cross the border for a day? How do the border guards react to people crossing for less than a day?

Many times the question is. How long do you plan on being in country X? Do you plan on acquiring goods or conducting business? Less than 24 hours can usually generate more questions. Have several friends that have to pass both Sarnia/Port Huron and Windsor/Detroit daily. Prior to the pre screened passes that have separate lines, frequent border crossers have trunks or in this case frunks opened on occasion. I once dated a girl that lived in Canada. After I reached a certain number of times of crossings. I got asked more and more questions, then it kind of stopped with the questions, and went back to more random.

Daily border crossing for Supercharging. Can't see how it would make sense. Border wait times are pretty tough these days. Tolls for bridges/tunnels to wait for a charge. So I would say it would be a one off occurrence.

Legitimate reasoning like I need to fast charge my car for a trip around Lake Superior would in my thoughts not be denied. That is assuming one's paperwork is in order, and you are a person that is deemed admissible to that country.

More often I get. Have a nice day and welcome to X or welcome home.

 

[scottf200]

When these two superchargers open up that gives me a new fun route to take from Chicagoland.

 

[tmoz]

That does look like fun! What sort of mileage does this turn out to be?

 

[scottf200]

When these two superchargers open up that gives me a new fun route to take from Chicagoland.

That does look like fun! What sort of mileage does this turn out to be?

1578 miles; 4 days if you 'hurry'. Stops at Niagra Falls (boths sides?) and doing any of the 4 things at The Henry Ford – Museum, Greenfield Village & Rouge Factory would extend it a day or more. Not sure if clockwise or counter-clockwise is better.
https://www.myscenicdrives.com helps with figuring out where to stop each night (ie. you can base this on hours driving or miles driven +/- some amount).

 

[SHaselkorn]

My son goes to school in this town. I was expecting the Canadian side to get a super charger first. I don’t recall the fee but it does cost a few dollars to cross, each way, and it can take upwards of an hour each way if your crossing when there is a backup. I wouldn’t consider this part of the completion of the trans Canadian route one bit. This is a much welcome and needed addition to allow travel in Michigan. That being said with their brutal winters, -30 Fahrenheit is common before wind chill, there needs to be some additional stops between the existing and proposed locations to prevent people being stranded in the winter.

On another note I’ve asked my son to get us an update on construction, I’ll also be up there at the end of the month. I plan on taking my M3. Recently this became an option because one of the hotels in town installed some chargers.

 

[Chuq]

could hit Michigan for six

Very impressed that this came from an American

 

[tmoz]

Very impressed that this came from an American

OK, I don't get it. What is the inside joke?

 

[mrau]

OK, I don't get it. What is the inside joke?

@mociaf9 was looking for a sports term that had "six" in it. "Hit for six" is used when playing Cricket. Cricket is not that much of an American game, but an American came up with it on this forum. @Chuq made note of that since he is from Australia.

We already used "Hat Trick" (hockey for 3 goals) and Grand Slam (baseball for 4 runs).

Its a joke.....but not really an inside one......just a clever one.

 

[PLUS EV]

I always thought it was called a sixer(!)