Lifestyle

Will gas stations close after electric vehicles become widespread?

No. Well, some of them will, but I actually think there’s a huge market here.

First, the bad news…

A lot of your “urban gas station” type places are going to get killed off… Places with no attached convenience stores, in particular, won’t survive. And a lot of smaller stations are in trouble as well. (Though urban chargers will be popping up everywhere, especially Level 2 chargers).

But for your bigger stations, especially for those located near major travel corridors?

EV’s will be a huge boon.

The reason here is fairly simple. A typical charging session at a HVDC charger for an EV is usually going to be around 15 minutes (and that can be extended), and that’s time that you basically have a customer captive. It’s not enough time for them to really go anywhere else, but it’s enough time that you can do more than sell them a soda. And there’s all sorts of services and products that you can sell people during that time.

Maybe it’s a mall style “food court”. Or how about a massage? How many people would pay for that in the middle of a road trip? Anything that takes a 20 minute experience and you can monetize it? Gold.

I think the Buc-ee’s model here is going to make absolute bank if you get a large number of chargers going.

For gas customers who have to attend their vehicles while pumping, you have to entice them to come inside. But for EV customers that just plug in and can walk away, far more will leave their vehicles if you offer anything at all. They will leave their vehicles, and spend more money.

That, my friends, is a license to print money.

Indeed, I’ll go further. The wise operator here is going to sell that power at really good prices, just to keep the customer there longer. Charge at 20 cents a kwh instead of the 30ish that most superchargers are? Guess who’s going to stick around longer and take advantage of that price, even if they spend more in your store!!!

Yeah. The smart operator here is going to do just fine.

ETA: While I welcome discussions regarding the business models and other related issues, this is not the answer to discuss how you think EV’s suck or that Elon lives in your head rent free. Comments to such effect will be deleted.


It’s a common misconception gas stations sell gas to make a profit. Financially what gas stations are are convenience stores who also sell gas.

90–95% of profit coomes from this part of the station

So I think many gas stations won’t close down. Sure some small stations inside large cities probably will close, but not the big ones next to major highways. They’ll still offer the rest and food areas, as well as supercharges to recharge your car while you’re having a break. You’ll be able to find a fuel pump at such places for the foreseeable future, we won’t get rid of ICEs for a very long time, so they’ll probably retain the name “gas station” well into 2100s.

What they will do is change. A gas station that caters to long distance travellers will need to be bigger and have more amenities to entertain those who stop there for longer. On a long trip you’ll need to stop every 2–3 hours and stay there for up to an hour while your car is recharging, so they better not all be the same any more.

There will be fewer gas stations altogether, but I would expect their business to grow considerably from electric cars.


Gas stations are closing now.

I live in Downtown Toronto and I can think of several gas stations that I could basically walk to from where I live that aren’t there anymore. When I last visited my old neighbourhood, two of the gas stations I regularly used are gone.

There used to be a gas station here

Here too. Note the sign for the re-zoning notice

And here, now just a weird fenced off lot.

Frankly, you can’t make much money selling gasoline – it’s just too competitive. Your profit on gasoline barely covers your expenses, especially on desirable urban land like this. Almost all gas stations make their money on convenience stores (they’re profitable). Back in the day, it was the same and gas stations made money on the garage.

Costco makes money on your membership fee, not selling gas.

Here’s the closest gas station to my house. I fill up my rental car here. However, Canadian Tire makes its big money on the discount store (this is a big one) and its credit cards.

Related Posts

What is the most ridiculous mistake this man has ever made?

Many people don’t know him. His name was Anthony Gignac, a man who would go down as the person who made the stupidest mistake in history. Almost half…

What little piece of knowledge might save your life one day?

Proper knot tying. A ‘’Square Knot’’ (aka ‘’Reef Knot’’) – taught to **millions** of Boy Scouts – is NOT ( I repeat – NOT) to be trusted with…

If I wanted to buy all Steam games today, how much would it cost me?

According to the information contained on the Steam Seewang website, using the data present on the network on the night september 15, 2020, the day of the last page update,…

I just received an overdue bill for my father who’s been deceased for almost 3 years. What should I do with it?

I served as the executor when my mother died. I continued to receive bills for her expenses for a year or so. I investigated each one. If she…

After MBBS, is MD tough or easy?

A couple of years back, I thought MBBS is the toughest phase of life. 19 subjects, 4 professional university examinations. Final MBBS was a nightmare. We had practicals…

What do dealerships in the United States do with cars that are not sold?

A friend of mine owns a dealership locally. Here’s what he told me once: The new cars, going out of production year, can’t be sent back to the…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *