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Comment by LeifCarrotson | Hacker News Reader

Gasoline is already something of a loss leader...they're really convenience stores with attached pumps. Though without the captive audience, and without the space and infrastructure to replace the pumps with electric chargers, I doubt that the convenience stores will have the same level of traffic.

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Until electric cars can fully charge in less than 5 minutes, people will need something to do, so entertainment may become a thing (whether that's a coffee shop of an arcade for the kids, or just a place to sit on your phone, I have no idea).

As someone who owns an EV, but doesn't have a charger at home, I wish I could up vote this more :-) The biggest surprise for me is how much I enjoy charging the car -- it gets me out. If you put chargers around a pedestrian downtown core, it would be absolutely amazing. However, I suspect it's going to be huge at the malls in NA.

McDonald's is installing chargers at their locations in Sweden:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QXo8TuvqQI

Presumably with the idea that they'll make money on the charging and get more business for the restaurant.

Unless EVs can charge faster, I really don't see them taking off. Sorry to be a luddite, but time is our number one good in the world and wasting more of people's time isn't scalable.

If I need gas and I have to pick up my kids after school or haul them to any appointment or other event it's not "okay" that I have to sit and wait for 30 mins. for my car to charge. Not. Going. To. Work.

Also, I live in a place that gets extremely cold, life threateningly cold. If my EV fails in that weather I could die.

Standing around for 30 minutes waiting for my car to recharge while my children beg me to buy them "entertainment" and snacks sounds like torture.

Agreed. Because it takes longer to charge than fill up with gas they won't be able to get sufficient volume.

But if you are bored there longer you're more likely to buy something?

Perhaps they will charge extra money to charge a car at the full speed the car is capable of and hobble charging speed for a lower price.

> Perhaps they will charge extra money to charge a car at the full speed the car is capable of and hobble charging speed for a lower price.

This would tie up their charging infrastructure and space for a longer time, making less money. Gas stations & charging venues are usually space-constrained because they're located on expensive real estate. Their goal is to maximize revenue and throughput in small spaces.

Do they do that with gas pumps?

No, but you can't browse in a shop while filling up with petrol (at least in the UK where we don't have those locks which keep the pump on while you walk away.)

Hmm, good point, I hadn't considered that. EV charging is totally unattended.

Makes me wonder what benefits there are to convenience store sales in states where "full service" is required.

I think it's the slow parking-spot chargers which are going to kill gas stations eventually.

IIRC CA already requires new buildings to be prepped for charging stations.

I mean, why drive somewhere to charge when you can plug in overnight and wake up to a car with 200km+ more worth of charge?

Then the format would have to change. They are optimized to sell skittles and slurpees as fast as possible, there would be no point in spending 15 more minutes at a current gas station convenience store.

Makes more sense to put chargers in places people park, like grocery stores.

In New Jersey, at least, the "convenience store" at many gas stations consists of a row of cigarette packs in the attendant's booth and a soda machine outside. We also have plenty of standalone convenience stores here.

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