Main & William

I’m almost certain its for public use, but will follow up to confirm, unless another reader can verify.

There are two stations, in fact (could only fit one in my camera frame). Thanks for checking — if I had an electric car, I’d've made the effort to call. (I walk to work — still waiting for the free bagel station.) Still, neat to see.

Based on initial DTE rep response, preliminary answer to the question on whether the stations are available for public use is “Yes, but …” with details to come.

Last I checked electricity from DTE wasn’t free. Who pays for the “juice” of a recharge? Or is it intended to be primarily a DTE staff perk?

Some additional information from DTE to flesh out the “Yes, but …” answer to the question of whether those charging stations are available to the public.

The lot is technically a private employee lot, but during the evening and on weekends, from a practical point of view the prohibition against parking there is not enforced. The stations themselves were installed by DTE through a grant from the Michigan Public Service Commission, which is different from the U.S. Department of Energy ChargePoint program — but the stations at Main & William are included as part of the various map databases for that program. To access the stations, you need a card issued by Coulomb, the company that manages the charging station network. To search for additional stations, visit this searchable map: [link to charging station map].

DTE uses the charging stations for its own electric vehicles. If others from the public use the stations after hours, DTE does not now charge for the electricity. DTE regards the stations as more or less temporary and transitional.

Not to stray too far off subject, but are you telling me that the 40 spaces in that DTE lot are free for the taking in the evening and weekends? No charge? No Brewer’s or Triangle towing folks patrolling it? Right in the middle of downtown?

I don’t need it because I don’t drive but that is a somewhat startling revelation to me.