Want to buy a Gas Station? Wreak

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Methuselah
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Want to buy a Gas Station? Wreak

Post by Methuselah »

[Yes, you can edit your own titles]
The part of L. A. I live in was primarily farmland after WW II but is now completely converted to residential neighborhoods. The square street grid is laid out with major streets a half-mile apart. Most major intersections have at least one gasoline service station and some have four, one on each corner. The Feds are getting serious about all new cars being electrically powered in a decade or two. These EV vehicles will be recharged mostly at home and/or work or shopping centers. A few of the existing gas stations can be converted to repair shops for EVs, but most of the stations will have to be converted to other uses and will be abandoned for some time after the transition starts. No one wants to sit in a service station for a half-hour waiting for a recharge to finish. I think that most of the stations are owned by oil companies and are leased to operators. It’s going to be an interesting change to watch.
Last edited by Methuselah on Mon Feb 21, 2022 2:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Bicycle Bill
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by Bicycle Bill »

Well, here's one alternative ...

The Beer Shop, in Sparta, WI    (link)

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A converted gasoline station on old US 16 (now WI State Hwy 16; it was downgraded in 1978), which was the main route through town.  I drive by this place on my bi-weekly trips to the clinic for my leg issues.  Haven't had a chance to check it out personally, but once the weather warms up I'll have to give it a look-see.
... (an aside — I find it strange, given that there are something like 175,000 words in the English language, according to the OED, and with new words being added — or at least being created and used — almost daily, that the word 'bi-weekly' is forced to do double-duty in that it can mean both something that occurs once every two weeks as well as something that occurs twice within a week)

The link I provided takes you to their website, where you can see some pictures of their renovation of the building, especially the two-bay service area which is now the tap room and indoor seating area — and you gotta love the reconditioned '53 Chevy panel truck with the tap handles out the side, available for rental...  so much classier than the typical enclosed tow-behind trailer you normally see. An added feature is that the overhead doors to the service bays were left functional, so that in times of good weather they can be opened to invite the outdoors to come on in.
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-"BB"-
Last edited by Bicycle Bill on Wed Feb 16, 2022 4:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

. . . and electrical vehicles generally require far less maintenance and repair that conventional internal combustion vehicles.

Methuselah
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by Methuselah »

There’s a Harris Ranch Inn on I-5, the main route from L. A. to S. F. near the town of Coalinga They’ve
had a string of about fifteen charging stations for EVs in their parking lot for several years. You won’t
have time to get a full charge if you stop for a meal, but there is a good hotel on the premises too, and
even a quick charge would let you go a little further. I expect more Inns and Restaurants to have
similar features in the future. I think this one was done with the encouragement of a local Tesla dealer.

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

I wouldn't shell out for one
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

Methuselah
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Post by Methuselah »

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Burning Petard
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by Burning Petard »

My main problem with EV is the charging. I live in an apartment. No way could I run a high amp extension cord to my vehicle in the parking lot. I am considering a two wheeled ev I could keep in my apartment. In Delaware I95 there is one service plaza. It includes a gazillion fast-food franchises and various retail sellers who offer "no state sales tax" bargains, all in one building. At each end of that building is a gasoline retailer for cars and trucks.
(sure, no sales tax, but frequent travelers know gas is usually cheaper in New Jersey and Virginia)

There is also a FREE electric charging system available. It was first set up many years ago by Tesla. I have no idea if the connections from other makers are standardized so GM, Ford, Toyota plug ins can use it. Tesla specifically set it up for their cars going between NY and DC.

snailgate

Big RR
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by Big RR »

The other problem is charging en route during a road trip. With gasoline, once can usually fill up in about 5 minutes or less; the quickest I have heard for electric charging is around 20 minutes (4 times as much). Thus, even if the number of charging stations is expanded 4 fold (to reduce waiting time, but think of the cost of having that many chargine stations at each station), it will still take 4 times as long to charge your car during a trip. Until this time is reduced to something more manageable, electric cars will likely not catch on.

Yes, you may have better mileage and have to stop less with an electric car than with a gas one, but it will make road travel much more inconvenient. I'm sure someone is working on this and I hope they are successful.

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datsunaholic
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by datsunaholic »

If you talk to people who have owned an EV for a while, they'll tell you the inconvenience of long charge times isn't that much of one. Being able to charge at home or at work makes up for it. They plan their longer trips so that they stop to eat and charge at the same time.

The issue I see regularly though it people that live in apartments that don't have charging stations. A lot of the new luxury apartments being built in the last few years usually have 5 or so charging stations, but that's only the ones that actually have parking. So many apartment buildings are being built with no parking at all (since they're on a bus or light rail line, they are exempt from providing parking. Never mind that the surrounding neighborhoods end up with cars crammed in everywhere since the apartment residents still have cars). Most older apartments don't have charging stations and you can't run cords out hundreds of feet to the parking lot. Hence, a lot of the EVs out of charge that I have to tow are apartment dwellers who didn't make it to the charging station, or the station they were trying to use was out of service. While there's almost always a gas station just around the corner, it could be miles to find an open charging station and those are usually clustered in retail areas. Well, there was the one Tesla driver that was towing a 6000# tandem axle dump trailer and didn't watch his charge status (gee, the range was off a bit, ya think?) but that's an anomaly.
Death is Nature's way of telling you to slow down.

Methuselah
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by Methuselah »

The charging problem will be solved as the need grows larger. What isn't solved is what is to happen to all those gas station sites? Fast food outlets will take up some of the spaces, but they are already well distributed. Many old sites will just sit there empty. Perhaps they can be turned into museums.

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Methuselah wrote:
Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:58 am
The charging problem will be solved as the need grows larger. What isn't solved is what is to happen to all those gas station sites? Fast food outlets will take up some of the spaces, but they are already well distributed. Many old sites will just sit there empty. Perhaps they can be turned into museums.
Let’s bulldoze them and plant trees - mini parks with shade trees on every other corner across urban and suburban America! Imagine that.

And make the Big Oil companies pay - carbon reclamation.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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dales
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by dales »

We don't currently have the infrastructure for EV's nor will we have anytime soon.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology is a far more viable alternative.

Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.


yrs,
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Bicycle Bill
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by Bicycle Bill »

Methuselah wrote:
Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:58 am
What isn't solved is what is to happen to all those gas station sites? Fast food outlets will take up some of the spaces, but they are already well distributed. Many old sites will just sit there empty. Perhaps they can be turned into museums.
BoSoxGal wrote:
Thu Feb 17, 2022 3:53 am
Let’s bulldoze them and plant trees - mini parks with shade trees on every other corner across urban and suburban America! Imagine that.
There ain't enough drugs in the pharmacy to make me high enough to believe that this would work on such a grand scale.  Don't forget that the underground fuel storage tanks would have to be removed first — and, depending on how long the station had been in existence, the soil itself could be contaminated from spilled fuel and automotive chemicals and would have to be detoxified.
BoSoxGal wrote:
Thu Feb 17, 2022 3:53 am
And make the Big Oil companies pay - carbon reclamation.
Channeling Donald Trump now, are we, my dear?   He was going to make Mexico pay for that wall that never got built.
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Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

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datsunaholic
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by datsunaholic »

Methuselah wrote:
Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:58 am
The charging problem will be solved as the need grows larger. What isn't solved is what is to happen to all those gas station sites? Fast food outlets will take up some of the spaces, but they are already well distributed. Many old sites will just sit there empty. Perhaps they can be turned into museums.
Unless they're located somewhere the land has virtually no value, those lots wouldn't stay empty for long. The biggest obstacle is the environmental remediation. Even then, if the land is valuable, prime commercial property it will get redeveloped.
Death is Nature's way of telling you to slow down.

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Long Run
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by Long Run »

MajGenl.Meade wrote:
Wed Feb 16, 2022 7:28 am
I wouldn't shell out for one
But then who will carry the standard in such a mobil situation?

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Long Run wrote:
Fri Feb 18, 2022 4:50 pm
MajGenl.Meade wrote:
Wed Feb 16, 2022 7:28 am
I wouldn't shell out for one
But then who will carry the standard in such a mobil situation?
Show off!
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Want to buy a Gas Station?

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

datsunaholic wrote:
Thu Feb 17, 2022 10:33 am
The biggest obstacle is the environmental remediation.
EPA had a nationwide 'Leaking Underground Storage Tank' program (the LUST program which was the source of some merriment) started in the mid-80s. Lots of tanks were pulled and the ground around them remediated and rusty ones were replaced with plastic. Corrosion prevention procedures and spill prevention and detection equipment was put in place. Most of them should be in pretty good shape, especially those owned by major chains.

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