The Future of Gas Pumps: Will Electric Cars make them obsolete?

Gas Pump was one of the
key areas of a driver’s life. However, with the advent of electric cars in the
mainstream, drivers rely more on charging stations instead of Gas pump.

But switch to electric
cars does not mean, the gas stations are completely done away with. In other
words, in future with more and more electric cars on the road, gas stations
need to offer other services that are useful for consumers.

Challenges faced by gas pump stations

Gas pump stations selling
fuel have been dealing with low gas consumption over the past years. A
combination of delivery services and people working from home has reduced the
miles that people drive using their own cars.

The decline in
the gas consumption leaves gas pump stations with few services and thus to stay
head in the race gas stations need to offer different services. They can add
the charging station along-side fuel pump.

However, this
needs more planning in terms of station placement and infrastructure. The gas
pump stations can also provide things like Amazon locker and return locations
or dark kitchen that only offer food delivery. The stations can also start
delivering gas to the house by figuring out the legal requirements of moving gasoline
and safely transporting it.

Gas stations
need to change to survive. One of the best options for gas stations to survive
is to become a service station. It takes efforts to turn gas stations to EV
battery-swap stations but can be done with proper planning and execution.

To survive, gas
stations are testing more sustainable sources of revenue, adding car washes and
expanding their store offerings. They are selling not just coffee but also
fresh orange juices, sandwiches, and more.

EV charging can
be added in the gas stations and this requires redesign of station site and it
demands more power than traditionally needed by the service station. For
survival in the long run the gas station need to revamp for future and work out
new strategies.

As more cars go
electric, there will be less gas station in future. However, switch to electric
cars does not mean gas pump stations are doomed completely. Gas powered cars
are cheaper to buy than the electric vehicles. Also, they are quicker to fill
up the pump than to recharge it.

It is for sure
that gas pump stations will not become obsolete so soon at least in many
developing countries where still many people can afford to buy gas powered cars
instead of electric cars.