Gas Station Pulls Pumps And Adds EV Charging

kjclow

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That's why I referred to it as a 'paradigm'. You go to the 'gas station'. My point is that we need to get out of that mindset. Instead of having a place to get fuel... put the 'fuel' at the places you park for other purposes. I've met new EV owners (mostly renters) that seemingly have that locked in their brain. I go to the gas station to get gas... I go to X to charge my car...

IMO having a specific place to charge your car like this former gas station is silly. Put the place to charge your car where you go to do other things. At a rest area, at a IHOP, at work, at the gym, at a movie theatre and at home.

I'm traveling from WA to NM. The hotel I chose has 6 HPWCs. I chose it for that reason....
One of our Y's has four charging stations next to it. Put in by the developer, not the Y. So, yes, you could plug in while working out. Although, I don't think I've ever noticed more than one car there. Location in the parking lot is also poorly laid out. All four are grouped together in a tight dead corner. Would have made more sense to put them in an island configuration in the middle of the lot.
 

ToxicDoc

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IMO having a specific place to charge your car like this former gas station is silly. Put the place to charge your car where you go to do other things. At a rest area, at a IHOP, at work, at the gym, at a movie theatre and at home.
This is already happening. Since it's electrical, proliferation is easy. Liquid fuel requires special permitting, EPA/environmental considerations, fire marshal approval etc

EV charging? - run a cable from your meter to a charging box. Maybe a simple permit. Done.

My hospital already has these in the public parking lot.
 

El Dobro

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A guy with a Leaf reported he was getting a chicken burrito while waiting, so they're getting food somewhere.
 

where2

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That's why I referred to it as a 'paradigm'. You go to the 'gas station'. My point is that we need to get out of that mindset. Instead of having a place to get fuel... put the 'fuel' at the places you park for other purposes.
I totally understand the 'Paradigm' issue. If I have a slow Saturday afternoon, I'll go snag some L2 charge (30 miles per hour) in the parking lot at one of the local municipalities which currently offers free charging. This setup won't last forever...

In some areas, some stand alone dept stores like Kohls were installing EV chargers for customers. Certainly, my local mall has Tesla chargers, but the same mall has a Tesla store and a Tiffany & Co. I think the only charging connection they have that fits my e-Golf is a 120v wall outlet to use with my own charger.

With the new Rivian and electric F-150's on the way, Home Depot and Lowes better get with the program and toss some chargers in the parking lot where the ICE cars won't park.

The location part seems to be the challenge to 'paradigm' charging. If you put the chargers up front like handicapped spaces, ICE vehicles will invariably use them without batting an eye. If you put them out in the back lot, nobody wants to walk that far.
 

turbobrick240

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With the number of angry idiots out there, I'd rather park an EV (or anything nice) away from the masses. Some elderly gross woman in Colorado made the local news this week by severely keying a strangers model 3 in a high school parking lot. I'm sure that sort of thing isn't rare.
 

nwdiver

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With the number of angry idiots out there, I'd rather park an EV (or anything nice) away from the masses. Some elderly gross woman in Colorado made the local news this week by severely keying a strangers model 3 in a high school parking lot. I'm sure that sort of thing isn't rare.
I've never understood the anger. I'm angry with ICE because the reality is it's a from of inter-generational theft and more than a little pathetic... what's to be angry about with EVs? Is it just change that makes people angry?

But the best way to reduce it is to make EVs the norm.
 
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Jetta SS

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I've never understood the anger. I'm angry with ICE because the reality is it's a from of inter-generational theft and more than a little pathetic... what's to be angry about with EVs? Is it just change that makes people angry?

But the best way to reduce it is to make EVs the norm.
She probably just got word of how her taxdollars are subsidising the costs of EV's for the wealthy.
 

turbobrick240

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She probably just got word of how her taxdollars are subsidising the costs of EV's for the wealthy.
More likely she caught a reflection of her hideous form in the paint, and couldn't handle it. Just an ugly person doing ugly things.
 

Lightflyer1

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I'm angry with ICE because the reality is it's a from of inter-generational theft and more than a little pathetic...
Inter-generational theft, that's rich. Are telling me that "nothing" you do uses any more than the bare minimum resources needed for you to exist here? Future generations will use whatever resources that are available to them at the time just as we do. They may not even need oil in the future. What makes me angry is people who think they have the right to control other people's lives just because they think they know better. I don't go out of my way to use excess amounts of resources but I will use what I want to make my life as enjoyable and comfortable as I want without any concern for anyone's anger over inter-generational theft of resources.
 

jackbombay

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Are telling me that "nothing" you do uses any more than the bare minimum resources needed for you to exist here?
Ah yes, this argument is just one small step away from the ever so logical argument of "Y0U wOulD kILl YouRseLF iF yOu rEAlLy cAreD abOUt tHe ENviRONmEnt!"
 

kjclow

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Can we, at a minimum, try to stay close to the topic?
 

turbobrick240

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Gas stations adding fast chargers is quite common in western europe. Though they generally aren't pulling the pumps just yet.
 

tikal

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Yes please about staying on topic.

I see EV growth rate more promising in places like Western Europe, Japan, China and very specific areas of North America like densely populated cities in the NE and West Coast.

In the next few years and beyond, a second EV vehicle for, mostly city driving, might be a convenient/economical option for some households in North America. I am thinking of something like a used Kia Soul EV for no more than $15,000. You can charge it at home without much additional expense. Not much more additional preventive maintenance. No need to charge it during the day at a 'EV Charging Station', just every night at home and you are done :)
 

El Dobro

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Yes please about staying on topic.

I see EV growth rate more promising in places like Western Europe, Japan, China and very specific areas of North America like densely populated cities in the NE and West Coast.

In the next few years and beyond, a second EV vehicle for, mostly city driving, might be a convenient/economical option for some households in North America. I am thinking of something like a used Kia Soul EV for no more than $15,000. You can charge it at home without much additional expense. Not much more additional preventive maintenance. No need to charge it during the day at a 'EV Charging Station', just every night at home and you are done :)
That's why I kept the Volt for longer trips and bought a Spark EV for all the local running around and my commute.
 

ericy

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I bought a Kona EV earlier this week - talk of EV charging perks up my ears :D.

Margins at gas stations for selling gas are paper thin these days - it doesn't seem like much of a risk to take out the pumps. The big stations with 20 pumps are the direction things are going (along with convenience store to go along with it).

For all we know the underground tanks had reached end-of-life, and they had to do something.
 

where2

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I bought a Kona EV earlier this week - talk of EV charging perks up my ears :D.
For all we know the underground tanks had reached end-of-life, and they had to do something.
Having had my e-Golf for just over a month now, you're going to like not having to stop for fuel, Ericy.

The local Wally World closed their fuel station a few months back so they could R&R the tanks, lines, and everything else. I filled my MkIV, my wife's JSW TDI and put another 15 gal in cans at the $2.65 they were offering diesel for the day before they closed. I think they're trying to get the Wally World station back online before the local Costco opens their new station... Now that I have an EV, I haven't bought diesel for 7 weeks... ;)
 

ericy

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Having had my e-Golf for just over a month now, you're going to like not having to stop for fuel, Ericy.
I like the low-end torque that is very much like what the TDI had. I missed that with the gasser that I had in the interim. The Kona takes off like a jackrabbit.

Back in the day, I would drive to oddball places to buy B100. Charging stations (to the extent that I use them instead of charging at home) are just another version of the same thing. It is really just a matter of knowing where they are in case I ever need them.
 

El Dobro

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The latest is the station is open M-F from 8 to 5:30, but the charging is 24/7 and (for now) is free for DCFC. Besides ICE cars, they also repair EVs. One poster on a road trip from Michigan with his Bolt, stopped in to get a charge and say hi to them. He also picked up a snack from a bakery across the street.
 

Lightflyer1

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Not encouraging financially. At 12 customers a day for 30 minutes each comes to a gross of $102. Of which he gets 66% or about $66. Out of that he has to pay for the electricity too. Currently he is only making maybe $20 to $40 a day maybe. Even at constant use he would only Gross $1600 of which he would get about $1k and still have to pay for the electricity. He also said he sells no food and canned the convenience store. Still he was given $780k to do this, so why look a gift horse in the mouth. I would never see anyone investing their own money to do this. You would never be able to recoup your investment. Makes great conversation though. Sounds like all his income comes from the service and repair end of things.
 

turbobrick240

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Great use for the VW settlement funds to install these chargers. Our governor just did a ribbon cutting on some dieselgate funded charging stations a mile from my mother's house. She's out in the sticks, but I-95 runs by fairly close.
 

El Dobro

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Thanks to dieselgate, Electrify America is slowly putting up charging stations in NJ. Since my Spark has a DCFC port, I can extend my range as necessary. Thanks VW. :D
 

ericy

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Thanks to dieselgate, Electrify America is slowly putting up charging stations in NJ. Since my Spark has a DCFC port, I can extend my range as necessary. Thanks VW. :D

The EA pricing is messed up though. If your car draws less than 75kW, you pay $0.20/min. If you car (even theoretically) draws above 75kW, you pay $0.59/min. The Kona reports that it can take 78kW (nobody has ever seen it draw this much however), so we always get socked with the higher rate. So I avoid EA until someone (Hyundai or EA) comes up with a resolution.


Fortunately there are other options, including charging at home.
 

ericy

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Not encouraging financially. At 12 customers a day for 30 minutes each comes to a gross of $102. Of which he gets 66% or about $66. Out of that he has to pay for the electricity too. Currently he is only making maybe $20 to $40 a day maybe..

Selling gasoline has very thin margins as well. For this guy, the bread and butter is repairs.
 

Lightflyer1

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Selling gasoline has very thin margins as well. For this guy, the bread and butter is repairs.
and you trimmed off the end of my post which said exactly that. If you are going to quote me, at least keep the relevant part in. I would guess he made more than the electric by selling gas. The margins may be slim as well but the number of customers he could service in a day would be considerably more. Seems to me the $780k grant had more to do with this. Maybe some virtue signaling as well. It sure wasn't a profit making decision. Like I said before no one would invest their own money in this kind of venture. You would never pay back your investment or make any profit. Maybe it will draw more business to his shop and he is wanting to go exclusively in the electric car repair business. About the only reason I can think of to do this other than the free money.
 
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