Electric cars have always faced their own “chicken or the egg” type of problem, and it relates to vehicle charging stations. Electric cars will never really get off the ground without the charging infrastructure to support them. But nobody seems to want to invest in said infrastructure until there is a significant pool of electrics on the road to use it.
I mean, think about how often you see a charging station versus how often you see a gas station and the advantage of the gasoline-combustion engine, at least in that sense, is all the more pronounced.
But as traditional car companies increasingly also become electric car companies, maybe traditional fuel stations will follow suit. Take, for example, a recent partnership between charging station company EVGo and Chevron.
The idea makes a lot of sense for everyone involved. For one, EV charging stations aren’t often located in the most convenient of places, so they can be hard for drivers to find. And once they get there, if they have a fast charge capability, EVGo says they can grab 90 miles in range in about 30 minutes.
But what to do with that 30 minutes? Chevron has an idea: come in and use the restroom and, perhaps, leave with an iced tea and some Flaming Hot Cheetos. Not to mention, more than likely, Chevron will grab a cut of the charging fee. Win-win-win, for California anyway, where the plan will initially roll out in six cities.