Ask HN: In 15 years, what will a gas station visit look like?

I think you're overestimating the amount of stations we'll need (or maybe I'm underestimating it, let's find out). People tend to carry over habits from fossil fuel vehicles to electric ones, but there's a significant difference: You have a gas station at home. A very cheap one, and using it is as easy as plugging into a standard outlet. I drive electric and on most days I use a little less than half the battery charge. When I return home a standard outlet can get it back to full by the next morning; the only time I ever stop at a public charger is when I'm on a long trip, and those are few and far between.

I appreciate that not everybody will have the opportunity to charge their car at their own house, but a significant percentage will, and they're motivated to since it's by far the cheapest way to drive.

But maybe I'm missing something?

I feel the concept of EV charging might be democratized. These are the problems with EV stations:

It takes a while to charge up.

No matter what, only a very few people can be accommodated at once.

On the flip side, setting up a gas station is hard, but that’s not the case with EV charging stations — especially if battery swapping is innovated. It also takes time to deeply penetrate the market, but EV charging is much more suitable for two-wheelers.

So there’s a clear gap — the current gas stations can’t handle the volume of people waiting for EV charging. What is the way forward? I feel anyone with an EV charger can set up an EV charging station at home. This means all your malls, houses, and parks might be converted into EV charging stations, making it much more decentralized.

I anticipate that anyone with an EV charger and good parking space can make some extra bucks from it. I feel the whole idea of gas stations might be democratized. I’m not sure — this is just what I feel. Feel free to let me know your opinion.

I know my view will be affected by the UK being generally a small country...

most people aren't driving 200+ miles a day, which means 90% of charging will be at home.

Driving longer that 200 miles means you probably want a decent break. So I would imagine that most "local" places will disappear / pivot into shops with EV charging also.

Motorway services will also change I think. Fast food isnt as much of an appeal when you're stuck there for an hour or so anyway. So I could see a rise in retrain complexes with charging abilities.

possibly changes in behaviour will also affect things. If im traveling 4-6hrs in a day, id be ok with stopping of for an hour at a shopping centre where I could charge and also do some shopping, maybe let the kids play in a softplay or whatever

The first clever folks to stick a bull ring within 5 minutes drive of the M6 will 200+ charging points will do VERY well I think.

Connecting EV charging stations to the grid is a significant problem. Balancing the peak grid maximum demand* against EV charging demand. While it may be okay to have a busy highway/motorway service station properly hooked up, it get's more difficult to apply that more broadly. How much charging capacity should a shopping centre provide? What about a occasionally-used sports venue?

I have worked with customers that have distribution centres in city locations to charge online-shopping vehicles overnight for the next day. All vehicles are plugged in and the software needs to charge different vehicles up at different times and rates, in order to spread the load.

It is far easier to dig a hole in the ground and fill a tank with delivered fuel - all the logistics for this already exists.

* Maximum demand is a well-known concept that relates to the maximum current draw in a 30-minute period, which is used to provide the necessary infrastructure from the electricity supplier.

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