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The combustion engine is considered to be obsolete, and with it diesel and gasoline. However, the fate of the gas station is by no means sealed. It has long been preparing for cars with alternative drives.
For many decades, the business model of gas stations was primarily based on selling fuel types based on fossil fuels. Climate protection and the triumph of the electric car are increasingly calling this original function into question. In view of the mobility turnaround that is currently taking place, the gas station attendant does not have to fear for his job, because his company could rather become an important pillar of the change towards a perhaps one day CO2-neutral world of mobility. A corresponding realignment of the gas station has long been in full swing.
Not the best business model
Petrol stations in Germany have already undergone a change in several respects over the past few decades. Once upon a time they were just places to get petrol, but the value chain of the companies has always diversified. In many cases, the sale of fuel only brings occasional customers to the supermarkets, restaurants, workshops and car washes that are operated at the same time. Whether it’s a bakery, lottery acceptance point or Hermes station – petrol stations have become contact points for many everyday necessities. Anyone who wants to do an apprenticeship at a gas station will no longer learn the trade of a gas station attendant, but that of a businessman.
Although the sale of petrol and diesel has already become more of a secondary business for many companies, it will remain an important pillar of the business model in the longer term. Even if, as agreed in the coalition agreement of the new traffic light government, 15 million e-cars come onto the roads in Germany in the current decade, it is very likely that well over 30 million cars will continue to be based on petrol and diesel engines in the 30s. remain dependent on fuel. And this elixir of life will continue to be sold through petrol stations. Even if there were to be a ban on fossil fuels for use in combustion cars at some point, filling stations would then alternatively sell e-fuels produced in a climate-neutral manner to a presumably much smaller customer base of combustion car users.
Charging stations at gas stations should increase
At the same time, e-car users could have a reason to drive to gas stations more often in the future. Several large mineral oil companies are currently setting up new fast charging stations next to the old petrol pumps. Aral wants to install charging stations at 2021 gas stations by the end of 120, Total has announced that it will serve 2022 locations in Germany by the end of 70. Shell, the German mineral oil company Tamoil and the energy supplier Westfalen are also pursuing similar expansion plans for their networks. Businesses in the urban environment usually only have one or two charging stations, each with two charging options, and in many places there are even small charging parks with significantly larger capacities at rest areas and truck stops along the freeways. Long-distance travel with electric cars, some of which have an impressive range, is no longer a utopia. If you want to drive many hundreds of kilometers in one go, just take one, two or three breaks to draw electricity within half an hour to continue your journey. In a practical way, there are usually offers at the charging stations along the long-distance travel routes that allow electricity customers to use charging breaks sensibly.
Stops at the gas station fast chargers could also become an everyday occurrence in the cities. It will probably not be possible for everyone everywhere and also not at all times to recharge electricity when it suits. Charging points at every underground parking space and every lantern parking space are likely to remain wishful thinking for a very long time. Which is not tragic, because nobody has their own petrol pump in the garage. Instead of charging up at home, it will probably be normal for many people to use an ultra-fast charger from Shell, Aral and Co. from time to time. Just like in the past with their petrol or diesel engine, e-car users will go to a public charging station once a week to obtain electricity for the next week. That should definitely be enough for many usage scenarios and e-car models. At gas stations with a supermarket attached, you could use the charging time to go shopping.
Nio as a pioneer
But the quick charging stations will probably not remain the only way for gas stations to sell energy to e-car users. Exchangeable battery systems are currently gaining momentum in China, in which empty traction batteries are exchanged for full ones within a few minutes in special exchange stations. One of the pioneers here is the manufacturer Nio, which is already present in Europe and has been mass-producing a second-generation changing station type since this year. The mineral oil company Shell and Nio recently agreed on a cooperation. Accordingly, the car manufacturer's changing stations should also be located at Shell gas stations in the future. The cooperation provides for the installation of changing stations in both China and Europe. Nio also wants to sell its cars in Germany from 2022, where exchange stations are also to be set up. At the same time, Nio users should have access to Shell's charging network.
But do you prefer hydrogen?
In addition to fast charging stations and exchange stations, filling stations could also become sales partners for another energy storage system of the future, which can be used to power CO2-neutral and electrically driven vehicles: We are talking about hydrogen. It is still a delicate little plant, but there are now more than 90 filling stations in Germany that stock the volatile gas for the few hundred fuel cell cars registered in Germany. There is certainly no money to be made from selling hydrogen at the moment, but the importance of the clean energy carrier for the mobility world could pick up speed in the medium term. The gas could be used not only to drive vehicles with fuel cells, but also those with hydrogen combustion engines. Among other things, Japanese motorcycle manufacturers such as Kawasaki and Yamaha recently announced their intention to develop models with hydrogen combustion engines. Perhaps in the future, filling stations will not only trade in the hydrogen they need, but one day they will even produce it themselves. With a solar system on the roof and an electrolysis system, hydrogen could be produced in a climate-neutral manner where it is needed.
For the time being, however, such mind games are still a thing of the future. How exactly the filling station of the future will look like must remain open for the time being, also in view of the many questions about mobility change that have not yet been clarified. But it is quite certain that petrol stations in many places will smell different in the future than before. The aroma of the diesel and benzene fumes could disappear at some point or at most waft over from the orphaned "dirty corner".