Interesting that a major oil producer and/or concessionaire are starting to get a clue. Chevron starts deploying EV charging stations at its gas stations - Electrek One line from the article drew my attention. If you substitute "Toyota" for "oil companies", the point is still valid and continues to be with Toyota, the largest auto producer on the face of the earth. Yeah, Toyota was the first out with mass produced hybrids but those are still ICE platforms. In the meantime, they have done nothing significant about a BEV platform. "It shouldn’t be surprising. Oil companies always knew what they were doing. They just didn’t care or cared more about profits than the longevity of the planet. They knew about climate change and their impact on its acceleration way before the public did."
Shell gas has been doing this for some time now, partnering with PG&E. But theirs (from observation) are QC - which only makes sense, because who wants to sit in a gas station sucking fumes while you wait 2 hours typically - just to pick up 7 kwh or so, using an L2 plug. Casinos? Yes. Shopping malls? Yes. Hotels? Yes. Movie theater? Yes. Restaurants? Maybe. Gas stations? That's a stretch. .
i am glad to see fossil fuel companies hedging their bets, that means they are becoming believers. but i have to take john1701's side in this fight. while i would love to see a toyota bev, the more realistic approach is converting gassers to hybrids, hybrids to plug ins and ultimately, plug ins to bevs. example: my son just bought a rav4h. a few years ago, he wouldn't even consider a hybrid. but now the $800. price difference is negligible, and it is a much better car all around. in the future, some of these people will convert to phevs and eventually to bevs when the tech is right. this approach gets things moving in the right direction at a quicker pace, and when people eventually wind up in all electric cars, they won't even know how it happened.
it also stated some are already installed in some cities. i looked at plugshare maps covering Manhattan Beach, Aliso Viejo, & Menlo Park & there are no evGo's at gas stations in those cities - other than 1 in Manhattan Beach - & it's a 30kw quick charger & it's at a BevMo - not a gas station. Maybe they're not hooked up yet & so they don't show. Not that many use evgo QC's (due to high costs) - but if they ever do install these in gas stations, I can't think of but 2 or 3 ev's that charge at 50KW+ ..... maybe they are preparing for future VW's?
I'm guessing future proofing. How much more does a 100kW charger cost over a 50kW one? The cost might be worth it, even if the charger only runs at 50kW now, to have it in place when cars that can take advantage of it arrive. Besides, some Teslas may stop by.
Gas stations have always made more of a profit from what they sell inside the store than they do from what they sell inside their tanks....so this isn't about anything that they 'really' care about other than profits. When I buy fuel, I'm in and out in however long it takes to fill the tank, pump bilges, and MAYBE get some gedunk. An EVangelsit will be there for juuuust a bit longer, so if I'm the retailer I'm also going to throw up some inside tables and a hot bar.
