- Joined
- Jan 30, 2022
- Messages
- 509
Smith's Food and Drug
1601 Market Pl Dr, Great Falls, MT 59404
Electrify America network
1601 Market Pl Dr, Great Falls, MT 59404
Electrify America network
No worries...seems like you already went above and beyond to scope out the charger in prep for your trip!That was me who made the report they had scrapped the plans. I was planning my trip from Calgary to Arizona. I phoned the Smith's and that's what the lady who answered the phone said. I have no idea if it's true or not or how she knew. I should have done more digging or got a name or something official. Really hope it's not true because this one would be very handy.
Electrify America can build a new charging station in a few weeks.Fantastic news! If they can get this thing done by the end of April it will shave hours off my return trip from Arizona to Calgary. I won't need to detour through Missoula.
What Electrify America has been doing lately is to do the underground electrical work, but not install any charging equipment until the transformer/switchgear comes in.It does make you wonder though why they would build out a station far in advance of having the utility's equipment on site and installed. Seems like a bit of a project management breakdown to deploy equipment to a site that might not be online for 6 months, only to have it sit idle.
Hopefully they are getting better at managing that aspect of it. Tesla seems to have gotten that aspect of it down to a science (partly due to their ability to rapidly deploy their equipment). I've detected a bit of an improvement at EA sites, but I think they still have a ways to go.
Called today (Mar 24 2023). Rep told me they had the ground torn up and blocked off for months this winter but then things stopped. There are no chargers there now and no recent activity. The manager told me it's back to being a normal parking lot with no sign of an EV charger. The EA site lists this location as "coming soon". This is bad news for me because the I15 route from (Phoenix to Calgary) is out. Likewise the route up I90 is a no-go because the road through Glacier National Park isn't open until July and the route around the park is too long. Looks like maybe I head up the coast? *sigh* life as an early EV adopter.
They don't seem to have a problem letting equipment sit for well over a year (see Cheyenne, WY Electrify America)This sounds like a classic chicken/egg situation. They probably don't want to divert charging equipment there until there is sufficient demand to justify it.
I have a suspicion a lot of these companies are also holding out for full or partial site NEVI funding where they can get away with delaying it long enough to get approval.
Nearly all of the EA "coming soon" sites nationwide have disappeared from the EA website and app this past week. All except for 6 are no longer shown. Those 6 are in California (2), Florida, Michigan, New York, and Connecticut.The site is no longer listed as "coming soon" on the EA site. On-Line chat says they have no plans to build at this location. Very disappointing.