Why Gas Stations Could Win the EV Charging Race

Most EV drivers still charge 80 percent of the time at home — but that last 20 percent is where the real business battle is starting. And gas stations are quietly positioning themselves to win it.

Here’s the thing about where you charge your EV: once you’ve done a few long trips, you stop caring about logos and start caring about three things — speed, safety, and what you can do for 20–30 minutes while your car fills with electrons. That’s exactly where traditional fuel retailers can shine, and why they’re becoming a serious force in green technology, not a casualty of it.

This post looks at how gas stations like Wawa, Sheetz, Love’s and others are adapting to EVs, what actually makes a great fast‑charging stop, and how smart retailers can turn “fuel” time into profitable, low‑carbon customer time.

From gas pumps to electrons: why gas stations still matter

Gas stations and travel plazas already control three assets the EV ecosystem desperately needs: prime roadside locations, big electrical hookups, and habits. For decades they’ve trained drivers that “this is where you refuel.” EVs don’t change that instinct — they just change the product.

For retailers, the business reality is blunt:

• A single DC fast charger can cost well over $100,000 to buy and install.
• That charger might only generate around $10,000–$12,000 a year in charging revenue at today’s utilization.
• Profit still comes from chips, coffee, hot food, and clean bathrooms, not electrons.

So the winning model isn’t “sell power.” It’s “sell time.” Whoever makes those 20–30 minutes the most useful, comfortable, and predictable will capture EV drivers — and their wallets — for years.

What EV drivers actually want at a charging stop

If you own or operate fuel or retail sites, understand this: EV drivers don’t think like gas drivers. They’re not racing to leave in three minutes; they’re planning a focused 20–30 minute block. That changes what “good” feels like.

Research and real‑world behavior converge on a clear checklist.

1. Speed and reliability

Fast charging is table stakes. A 150–350 kW charger that actually works beats a slower or flaky unit every time.

• Drivers will choose a slightly slower route if it has reliable chargers.
• Early adopters tolerated broken units; mainstream buyers won’t.
• Networks that keep uptime high will win long‑term loyalty.

AI is starting to help here. Smart charging platforms can:

• Predict charger faults from usage and temperature data.
• Automatically schedule maintenance before units fail.
• Optimize power delivery so multiple cars share limited grid capacity without big slowdowns.

If you’re planning a charging hub, analytics and remote monitoring are not “nice to have.” They’re your quality control system.

2. Safety, lighting, and 24/7 access

Drivers repeatedly rank security, lighting, and all‑hours access among their top priorities. That’s one reason gas stations have a natural edge over lonely chargers in the back corner of a mall parking lot.

Strong candidates for an EV‑friendly site:

• Bright, well‑lit forecourt visible from the road
• Staff on site most or all of the day
• Clear sightlines from store to chargers
• Cameras and obvious security presence

Most EV road‑trippers I’ve talked to will happily drive a few extra miles to avoid a dark, deserted charger at night. If your location feels safe, you’ve already beaten a lot of competitors.

3. A place worth spending 20 minutes

Gas stations never had to think hard about this. With EVs, they do.

A great fast‑charging stop feels more like a compact third place than a fuel depot. Think:

• Clean, modern restrooms
• Decent coffee (not burnt), cold drinks, and fresh food
• Comfortable seating where you can answer email or wrangle kids
• Reliable Wi‑Fi and plenty of outlets

Chains like Wawa and Sheetz get this. They’ve invested for years in made‑to‑order food, strong coffee, and obsessively clean facilities. When they bolt EV chargers onto that experience, the energy transition feels… normal.

The new business model: selling time, not gallons

Most companies get this wrong at first. They treat EV charging like gasoline: price per unit, throughput, margin on the commodity. That approach almost always disappoints.

The reality? Charging is the customer acquisition cost. The store is the profit center.

Here’s how the economics tend to shake out:

• Charger revenue covers some operating and capital costs but rarely all.
• Incremental in‑store spend during charging sessions becomes the real driver of return.
• Site value rises as your location becomes a known, trusted node in the regional charging network.

Even early studies back this up:

• Installing public charging has been shown to lift nearby business revenue by around 1–4 percent, depending on context.
• For high‑margin convenience retail, that’s meaningful — especially across hundreds of sites.

So if you’re a fuel retailer or roadside operator, your design question changes from:

“How do I sell more kilowatt‑hours?”

to

“How do I turn every 25‑minute charging session into a satisfying micro‑visit?”

Practical moves for retailers

If you’re planning EV charging at your sites, here’s a simple framework that works.

1. Start where you already win

Prioritize locations that already have:

• Strong food/beverage and clean‑restroom reputation
• High highway or commuter traffic
• Good electrical capacity or easy grid upgrades

These sites will convert EV drivers into loyal repeat customers fastest.

2. Design for the EV use case

Don’t just shove chargers off to the edge of the lot. Instead:

• Place chargers where drivers have a safe, short walk to the store.
• Keep cables and bollards organized so the area feels intentional, not improvised.
• Add a handful of outdoor tables or benches where people can sit within sight of their car.

3. Use smart software, not just hardware

Green technology isn’t just the charger; it’s the control system.

• Use AI‑driven load management to avoid costly demand spikes.
• Let software prioritize chargers in use and throttle idle ones.
• Offer an app or integration that shows real‑time availability and pricing.

This is where AI quietly supports the transition — making charging cleaner, cheaper, and more predictable without drivers ever noticing the algorithms under the hood.

4. Treat EV data as a strategic asset

Charging sessions generate a rich stream of operational and customer data:

• Dwell time, arrival patterns, and visit frequency
• Typical state of charge on arrival
• Correlation between charging and specific in‑store purchases

With the right analytics, retailers can refine:

• Staffing levels during peak charging windows
• Product placement for “charging‑friendly” offers (fresh food, drinks, quick groceries)
• Personalized deals for known EV customers

That’s where EV charging stops being a regulatory checkbox and starts being a growth engine.

Policy whiplash and why timing still matters

There’s no way around it: federal EV policy in the U.S. has been bumpy. Generous funding under recent climate and infrastructure laws accelerated charging projects, then political changes slowed or reshaped some programs.

For retailers, that turbulence creates two strategic questions:

1. Do we build now or wait?
   Some smaller chains are pausing, worried that demand isn’t “there yet” without heavy subsidies. Others are quietly locking in grid capacity and building flagship sites because they know transformers and permits only get harder to secure.

2. Do we go it alone or partner?
   Many brands don’t want to operate the charging hardware themselves. They’re partnering with established charging networks that bring software, maintenance, and access to roaming users.

My view: waiting for perfect certainty is a mistake. EV adoption curves rarely move in straight lines, but directionally they’re clear. If your business depends on highway or commuter traffic through the 2030s, you don’t want to be the last fuel brand in your region to offer fast charging.

How this fits into the broader green technology story

From a climate and green technology perspective, what’s happening at gas stations is bigger than a few chargers next to the diesel pumps.

A well‑designed charging hub can:

• Replace gasoline miles with electric miles, cutting tailpipe emissions to zero at the point of use.
• Integrate with on‑site solar, batteries, or smart grid programs to shift demand to cleaner hours.
• Use AI‑based demand response so charging ramps up when renewable generation is plentiful.

In other words, the same forecourt that used to be a fossil‑fuel hotspot can become a flexible, software‑driven node in a cleaner energy system. That’s exactly the kind of practical, incremental transition that actually scales.

And because these locations are already everywhere — urban corners, suburban arterials, rural highways — they’re one of the fastest ways to bring visible, everyday green technology into people’s lives.

What to do next if you’re serious about EV charging

Whether you’re a retailer, fleet operator, or just an EV‑curious driver, there’s a better way to think about gas‑station charging.

• Retailers and fuel brands: audit your top 10–20 locations for EV readiness: power, visibility, amenities, safety. Start design work on at least a few “model” sites instead of waiting for the market to mature.
• Site owners and landlords: treat EV charging as an anchor amenity, not a side project. The right partner and software stack will matter more than squeezing the last cent out of the tariff.
• Drivers: start rating and reviewing charging stops not just on speed, but on safety, cleanliness, and amenities. Your behavior is the signal that shapes which sites get built next.

Gas stations don’t disappear in an electric future. The smart ones evolve into energy and convenience hubs that quietly make the green transition feel normal. The question isn’t whether that shift will happen — it’s which brands will be ready when EV drivers start expecting every highway exit to offer a fast, safe, and genuinely pleasant place to plug in.