Want to know the best places to charge you electric vehicle? Intrepid reviewer ‘Ubiquitous Electric Bill” has the answer

Not all electric vehicle charging stations are created equal. Some are in well-lit areas or in parking lots. Others allow for free or low-cost charging or have multiple places to plug in. Then there are those that don’t work well or are even out of commission.

The best places to power up, says Bill Gehn, are at fast chargers located just off the freeway or at gas stations and convenience stores. Using the handle “The Ubiquitous Electric Bill,” Gehn has reviewed nearly 2,100 charging stations — some more than once — where EV drivers can plug in and posted them on Plugshare.com and its companion app, a site where EV drivers can add locations to a map and share tips, comments and photos about their charging experiences.

“It’s become an addiction and hobby,” he said earlier this month while checking out a station outside Southdale Liquors on York Avenue in Edina.

Gehn’s foray into electric vehicles began in 2015 after his daughter gave him John Fialka’s book “Car Wars: The Rise, the Fall and the Resurgence of the Electric Car.” Shortly afterward, the family needed a second car. Not wanting to maintain another vehicle, Gehn entertained the idea of going electric. A quick online search led him to a Ford dealer in Kenyon, Minn.

He test-drove a Focus. “I was immediately impressed,” said Gehn, who bought the car on the spot. “A nice ride, smooth and quiet.”

More than 80% of EV owners charge up at home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. But when away, drivers need to know where to go when their batteries start running low. Gehn wanted to go on a trip, so in 2016 he turned to Google to find a list of public charging stations. That’s when he came across Plugshare.

Gehn posted his first review — called a check-in on Plugshare — seven years ago. Now on his third EV — he drives a Bolt and owns a Rivian R1T truck — Gehn has added 211 charging locations to the Plugshare network and helpful advice about thousands more, including 50 in the past month. He gave Southdale Liquors high marks for its dual chargers that are in a parking lot and free for the first two hours.

Others who have checked in there score the station high, too, as it has a composite score of 8.2 on a scale of one to 10.

When assigning ratings, Gehn looks at the type of charger available — Level 1, Level 2 or DC Fast, which determines how quickly a battery will charge. He also considers cost per hour and safety, giving lower scores for chargers in areas with poor or no light or that are on the side of busy streets. As vandals have cut cords on many Twin Cities chargers, informing others if a station is operating or not is critical, he said.

“Range anxiety is a real thing,” Gehn said. “If you pull up and it’s not working, and you need a charge, you are stuck. That’s important.”

Gehn’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Plugshare has noticed, and recently sent him a baseball cap sporting the website’s name, which Gehn proudly wears while checking out EV chargers.

“A little token of appreciation,” he said.