In 2024, 16.6 million new vehicles rolled off showroom floors. Just under 8% of them are EVs. GM and Tesla EVs are being joined by Hyundai, Kia, Toyota (Lexus), Honda and European brands. Ford is committed to hybrids to go with their all-electric Mustang EV.
Lower sticker pricing is on the way as battery costs come down and better deals are offered to sustain momentum. The accumulated number of EVs in use in five years will reach around 28 million or 10% of all vehicles including pickup trucks and vans. Already 23% of all vehicles sold in California in 2024 were EVs.
Everything points to the new era of ubiquitous electrified transportation.
Recharging infrastructure is catching up with more, quicker charging stations and unitized plug-in technology. This will help solve the No. 1 concern of current and future EV buyers.
But what’s in it for the convenience stores and performance management in retail generally?
With on-site EV charging, a c-store becomes a 21st century oasis sort of like a Starbucks, but with a smaller menu and slower drive-through. 7-Eleven, Sheetz, Kwik-Trip and others have already begun adjusting to EV reality. In 10 years, it is expected that more than 20% of all customers will be driving electric; mostly pickups, and SUVs - with more e-vehicles used for business.
In theory, 10% EV vehicles on the road tomorrow represents a 10% annual loss of c-store fuel business to home charging; currently about $70 billion. What will happen when the number reaches 20%?
The dilemma of needing to provide an EV charger vs. needing to compensate for the loss of revenue on gas sales has one possible solution – feed them while they charge, and make up for any losses on fuel sales by profits made on food service.
Naturally, there are different concepts of “good food” for different demographics of retail shoppers. But here you can be helped by Traffic flow Demographics, a set of data delivering traffic counts and demographic analysis of the drivers in the flow of traffic that passes by your store. With this new tool, you’ll learn about their points of origin, the time they spend on the road before stopping at your store, their income, gender, age, ethnicity, etc. Ticon’s new product is now available with nationwide coverage and high granularity, at Ticon’s industry-leading accuracy and precision.
Become the place in the EV drivers’ life where they want to come for that very special food offering, and you’ll have a chance of finally making profit of these costly fast chargers you installed.
