forecourttech April 19
A monthly technology magazine for the evolving retail forecourt.
A monthly technology magazine for the evolving retail forecourt.
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<strong>forecourttech</strong><br />
pagetwelve<br />
Electric vehicles<br />
As car manufacturers and governments look for ways to<br />
meet global climate targets, electric vehicles are being<br />
viewed as a possible solution to the problem. This in itself<br />
requires a huge change in consumer habits with even the<br />
fastest chargers on the market taking around 20 minutes to<br />
charge the battery to 50%, considerably longer than refuelling<br />
with petrol or diesel.<br />
“We all know it will change our industry, it will turn things<br />
upside down,” said Mark.<br />
“It might take a while but more and more I believe it will<br />
happen sooner than most of us think. Companies like BMW<br />
announced that in just a couple of years time they will have<br />
a fully electric model in every range. If all car manufacturers<br />
adopt a similar approach then this will really change the<br />
dynamic. If suddenly manufacturers are mass producing<br />
electric vehicles then we will see a reduction in price and<br />
more electric vehicles on the road. Retailers are aware of<br />
these changes and they are all looking in to what the future<br />
might hold.”<br />
With longer wait times this produces a unique opportunity<br />
for retailers to draw customers in to the stores, but just<br />
because they are there with nowhere else to go, it does not<br />
guarantee they will engage with the store.<br />
“On a recent trip to Norway I visited a petrol site that had<br />
10 chargers on the rear parking lot. It was lunchtime and all<br />
10 were occupied but all of the drivers were sat in the car<br />
on their phones, none were in the store. If a customer goes<br />
to a site and spends 30 minutes on charge but not in the<br />
store then it becomes clear that they don’t have the right<br />
infrastructure,” explains Mark.<br />
Destination forecourt<br />
“Traditionally you would you go to a c-store either because<br />
it is the only one open and everything else is closed or it is<br />
conveniently located on your journey. Suddenly with developing<br />
technology this called all disappear. If you have an at<br />
home electric charger, you won’t need to fuel anymore and<br />
if the likes of Amazon can deliver emergency purchases<br />
within an hour, you have no reason to go out. This means<br />
the fuel retail site has to become a destination not a stop<br />
over,” explained Mark.<br />
“We need to start thinking about destinations rather than<br />
c-stores. For rural communities a fuel station can become<br />
a community hub or due to more and more people working<br />
In a world with self drive cars, who decides<br />
where to stop and refuel?<br />
#<strong>forecourttech</strong> @<strong>forecourttech</strong> www.<strong>forecourttech</strong>.com
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