Not sure where you are, but hopefully we try harder to move away from cars in the US and adopt more rail (light, high-speed long distance, etc.) so in that world, they get replaced with housing or literally anything else.
Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
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Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#222040 feels far too soon for this thought experiment, at least in the U.S. ICEs will remain the primary vehicle for most families until charging networks are built out. 40-50 years is more realistic.
Depends where. EVs are already 23% of light vehicle sales in California. The US won’t transition equally.
EV adoption is incredibly uneven. It makes predictions really difficult.
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#23Not much. 15 years ago was 2010. Gas stations in 2025 are very similar to Gas stations from 2010. I doubt they will be too different in 2040. May be a few more EV chargers.
I would not be surprised if it looks more like Sam's Club, but otherwise the same. ie App with QR code scanner instead of Credit Card scanner.
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#24Not much. 15 years ago was 2010. Gas stations in 2025 are very similar to Gas stations from 2010. I doubt they will be too different in 2040. May be a few more EV chargers.
IMO gas stations haven’t changed all that much over the last 50 years (forget the 15) beyond:
- now having larger buildings to incorporate more convenience products (mostly foodstuffs) for sale - more pumps
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#25HN is dumb as dog shit, at least Reddit has a million monkeys. What do you hope to achieve?
Step one: What is todays delta to 2010? It is a lot, so this is where smart people would start.
So we'll skip that.
Many cars bought today will be around. Many gas stations bought today will be around.
People will be driving further. Do we have to say for the stupid people it won't be electric.
People will be more isolated and not want human contact, digital payments from the pump standard. Food and beverages are as massive part of the profit. So what does that mean?
Automated fueling so your hands don't get dirty will exist. Cars will be able to communicate so they will queue you more efficiently.
There will be electric charging places. They are not "gas stations", you'll get a split. It's interesting to calculate what they would be. Land value vs time to recharge. They can be multistory. This is a whole other thing.
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#26Not sure where you are, but hopefully we try harder to move away from cars in the US and adopt more rail (light, high-speed long distance, etc.) so in that world, they get replaced with housing or literally anything else.
Railways take 10-15 years to plan and build, so unless they are in play right now I highly doubt you will see anymore in the future
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#27It is hard to predict a new advancement in EV technology, but if we get to a point where an EV is cheaper than the equivalent ICE and charges faster than you can gas up (so about twice as fast as the fastest EV today), and has a longer range than the equivalent ICE, then people will buy more of them. Then we will start to see more EV chargers than gas stations. Advancements in AI might make it possible to have attend…
And they’ll need to be as cheap or cheaper than an ICE car :)
They already are significantly cheaper than ICE in China, the rest of the world won't be far behind.
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#28More EV docks outside, more products from YouTubers and influencers inside. Maybe no cigarettes.
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#29Most countries will have fast chargers with one gas pump for the remaining ICE cars. That’s already happening in Norway, for example.
The US? After a decade plus of authoritarian rule and the near outlaw of EVs, we’ll have exactly the same gas stations and cars, all produced right here because the rest of the world doesn’t want them.
Re: Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?
#30A lounge. There are too many today, tens of thousands will close. Most charging will take place at home or at work. EVs support payment by VIN with crypto primitives negotiating with the charger over the charger cable before charging starts, so how ever you’ll fund that balance (likely instant payments). https://www.axios.com/2022/07/15/gas-stations-prices-closing
most people certainly do not live in a place that has a garage with dedicated charging port. people who leave their cars outside to charge will be subject to vandalism and pranksters cutting/disconnecting the cables. electric vehicles are luxury vehicles for people with means.
This is certainly very location dependent. Where I live, outside parking is the norm, with lots of people either charging EVs or pre-heating their engine without being subjected to any vandalism.