Mercedes’ new charging center delivers the comfortable, convenient charging experience we deserve

America has charging problems. It’s quite common to have to drive a few kilometers off your route, only to realize that half the chargers aren’t working and the ones that are are charging much slower than they’re rated. Now everyone has moved on Tesla’s North American charging standard, that would certainly make things easier, but we can’t just rely on Tesla to make chargers. Where is the place? Mercedes’ new charging network is coming soon.

According to Mercedes, the goal is to have plenty of car space and charging options on either side of your car, as well as insured charging where possible and options like food and bathrooms so you have something to do while wait. your car to charge. So when I recently got my hands on the Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV, I decided to risk my life, leave the safety of Atlanta and venture out to the suburbs to try out the first branded charging center. by Mercedes.

Although located in Sandy Springs, it certainly made a good first impression. It didn’t feel crowded with five cars charging at once, although I wonder what it would be like if 20 drivers showed up at once. And as far as I can tell, every Charge Point charger is still working, which isn’t much to say since they were newly installed, but if you’ve had a bad charging experience in the past, you get the idea. Charging your car is as easy as filling it with gas. It just works.

Since the EQE can only charge at 170 kW it can’t take full advantage of the charger’s power, but once it got going I don’t think it ever dropped below 145 kW, which again impressive when exceeding the allowable limit. Charging is hell. I also came in with an eight percent fee, so if it doesn’t work out, I’ll start looking as the clock ticks. Reaching 80 percent speed took about 40 minutes, although I stayed a little longer because I wanted to get back 200 miles before escaping the suburbs for safety. You can’t trust those OTP-ers, you know?

This location has a seating area as well as a separate building for the bathroom. In the lounge, you can purchase snacks and drinks, and there are several chairs, benches, and tables for you to use while killing time. The bathroom was also clean and well stocked, although that may have been because no one had used it yet. I saw a lot of people coming in to charge their batteries, and every one of them sat in their car except for plugging and unplugging it. Maybe they didn’t know there were bathrooms available? Many of them were old so I assumed at least one of them would have to pee at some point.

If you’re using the Mercedes charging center as I did to charge the battery for most of the journey, your best bet is probably to skip the lounge and go get food at one of several restaurants a short walk away. short set. No margaritas for you until Mercedes discovers true self-driving cars, but there’s a Mexican place right around the corner that’s pretty good by Georgia’s Mexican food standards. If you’re going to wait 45 minutes while scrolling on your phone, at least enjoy some chips and queso while doing so.

Unlike another German automaker that’s building its own charging network, the best thing about the Mercedes charging experience is that it feels like Mercedes is actually trying to deliver for customers and owners. Other electric vehicle owners get the charging experience they deserve. Everything works. It’s clean. I got in and out without any trouble. If every charging center in America were like this one, the experience of owning an electric vehicle would be much more enjoyable.

Of course, not every charging center has Taqueria La Parilla nearby. Some will be at Simon Malls, so you can charge while you shop, while others will be located at Buc-ee’s gas stations, where you’ll be forced to choose a chopped brisket sandwich instead French fries and queso.

Hopefully Mercedes can quickly build more such charging centers and meet the same standards as the charging center next to its headquarters. After all, if you’re building a charging network, it’s pretty bad marketing if the hub next to your office is dirty or has chargers that don’t work properly, so you have to ensure prime placement as well. good like that. as it is.

Is the same true of Mercedes chargers at Buc-ee’s in Texas? Maybe even Michigan? That remains to be seen, but based on first impressions, if you have access to a Mercedes charging hub, you’ll probably want to prioritize that over most of your other options, especially the as Superchargers may be about to get a lot more crowded than that.