IMO the current model we use for gas stations wouldn't work for EVs. Charging times for EVs can take a long time compared to petroleum vehicles taking only a couple minutes (depending on tank size). The lines would be a terrible experience, and you'd probably end up having to reserve a spot.
Gas stations will need to evolve to account for the wait of EV charging. They will need to become fast casual restaurants with options for long-term stayers and this is not possible with some landlocked locations, as opposed to newer developments in the states.
They should concentrate on making EVs financially more plausible for people without an electrified garage. Half of Germany lives in flats, most without an own parking space and will pay much more for charging their EV with much less comfort. And politics seem to completly ignore that.
What a bone-headed move. A gas station is not really set up to handle vehicles that might be there for 5x, 10x or maybe even 15x longer than a gasoline car takes to fill up. You'd be far better off, putting them in the parking lot of a local grocery store or movie theater or restaurant.
Rented a Tesla this summer for a trip with my family- where I was in Michigan, the nearest superchargers were in the lot at Meijers (a regional supermarket chain), which made sense for Meijers (there's already a big lot there, already infra, it's a place you can tie fueling up with getting groceries) but it meant I had to drive half an hour to shop instead of going to the local market.
My thought is that they should be planting superchargers (or their functional equivalent) in every store or restaurant parking lot because when the only place to get a charge is in the next county over, that's directing EV drivers there and not local
Yeah, it'll cost something to build out infra to support that much power but honestly the US grid needs the upgrades anyhow- and if anything, electricity is relatively cheap compared to buying gas
Hopefully they will have it so that the EV charging stations included will be under canopies to protect them from the weather, as I know that that is a big problem with current canopy-less implementations.
Okay, but who is building the vast energy grid infrastructure required to move the gargantuan amounts of electricity that will be required once all vehicles make the switch?
I'm all for it, but I don't hear anybody talking about the huge national grid upgrades that will be required, or who's going to pay for it all, or how many years it'll take to get done.
Everyone seems to talk about building more chargers, but not going any further than that.