green charging - refuel at a garden centre :-)

[anonymous-user]

Expect to see much more of this sort of thing over the next couple of years:

https://365retail.co.uk/dobbies-garden-centres-rol...


ie destination charging, where private companies install charging infrastructure to leverage new customers into their premises.

[anonymous-user]

48k said:

It's completely relevant. It's literally the point I'm making. The retailer isn't teaming up with Gridserve for altruistic reasons. They want to attract customers. They want to give people a reason to come to them and not a competitor. Retailers have been doing this sort of thing for years.

Several other posters have agreed with this point of view on the thread I'm not sure why you are persisting to argue. It feels like you are trolling so will leave you to it.

I made no comment on the reasons the retailers are installing proper DC fast chargers (rather than token AC slow ones), of course they aren't doing it for fun or love!

My point was that we have i think reached an important tipping point with BEVs. It's similar to the point at which our mobile cell network reached in the early 2000's, when suddenly enough people had a cell phone that investing in a network became not just sensible, but financially viable, ie the business case was improved by that investment.

it's the same with privately funded fast chargers. They are not that cheap, and have significant impact on the host site (from an infrastructure viewpoint), but now it looks like they have become "viable".

What this means is that once one retailer installs them, suddenly they ALL need to install them, and the charging network will increase exponentially!

PH posters complain that the chargeing network is not of a suitable capacity and quality to enable them to buy a BEV, well looky here, that network is maturing incredibly fast, and pretty soon i think that we will think about public charging in the same way as we think about petrol stations, as simply being there when we need them, ie, requiring little thought.

That is a major change imo........

[anonymous-user]

DonkeyApple said:

Pretty much anyone can become a fuel retailer. The barriers to entry being absolutely minimal.

^^^ this is a very interesting point!

Today, the market dynamics of petrol retailing are driven by "cheapest is best" ie customers will happily drive a bit further to buy cheaper fuel, but there are only so many locations where you can install a fuel station because of the onerous requirements in handling large quanties of highly flamable liquids.

A battery charger is not in any way limited by those restrictions. This i suspect will indeed as you suggest change the game somewhat, especially as those chargers are starting off with internet connections meaning anyone can see the cost and status of a charger on their phone before physcially driving there.