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.
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.
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.
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.
> 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.
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.)
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.
