How to efficiently drive cross country

Any side trips?

I couldn't do that sort of journey without taking numerous side trips to various scenic attractions.

 

Unlike gas stations, charger operators actually have to make a profit off the fuel they sell.

Throw regulations that keep them from directly charging for the electricity, the low population of plug ins, and the going rate for parking in the area, the price can climb. Considering that few actually do a majority of their charging at such public chargers, their fuel costs still come out less than if they had an ICE car.

 

my local guy makes 20 cents a gallon

 

That is actually amazing vs my understanding.

 

that's what he told me, but he is very high priced convenience in an affluent area $3.20 and i can drive 10 miles and get $2.60

 

Yeah, there are outliers. I pass a Lukoil that can be a dollar more than the Wawas on my route. I don't think those busy stores are making money on the gas. Only ever seen one car at the Lukoil.

Was he talking profit or margin?

Retail Gasoline Profits Set Records in January 2019
Margin, and he may not be off from average.

Margins in California are in the 50 to 75 cent range. The profit comes after taking out the "distribution from terminals to stations and retailing of gasoline, including but not limited to: franchise fees, and/or rents, wages, utilities, supplies, equipment maintenance, environmental fees, licenses, permitting fees, credit card fees, insurance, depreciation, advertising".
Estimated 2019 Gasoline Price Breakdown and Margins Details

Whatever the margin, my point still stands. A charger business doesn't have all the income streams that a gas station has, so can't use fuel as a loss leader.

 

and then, the guy in my avatar has got to be making a fortune

 

That must mean gas stations operate at a loss. Most of their sales are gas and they do not sell enough other profit making goods to pay the staff and other operating expenses.
For some reason, I thought gas stations were in business BECAUSE they make a profit off the fuel they sell.

 

I have an uncle that used to have fuel hauling business. ( regional fuel terminal to station delivery) he referred to the fuels as “product” not unleaded, premium, diesel. I asked him once what the difference in product cost was between regular and premium unleaded products. He said, the base cost per gallon was the same. Yet at the pump, premium was alway $0.20 higher. Nowadays it can be as much as $0.60–$0.80 higher in my area. WI has minimum markup law that prevents retailers from selling fuel below cost. (Gas wars) but regular unleaded is priced at minimum markup. While the mid-grade and premium carry a substantial margin increase. Of course 90% of gasoline purchased is the cheapest grade. Averaging total sales of all grades nets about 3-5 cents per gallon markup.

 

One site I didn't link above stated that 1% of gas station retail income came from fuel. It was also including supermarkets with stations though.

This is dated(2013 data), but back then a gas station was averaging 2% profit.

NACS | Why Gas Station Margins Are Razor Thin

Or the refinery is jacking up the price of regular. Many of the typical octane boosters are valuable on the market by themselves.

 

You stated NO profit. The article, just quickly skimming, said $.02 per $1 profit.. Although that is a small profit is is SOME profit.
English words have meaning. Although some definitions are vague, None means ZERO.

 

My statement may have unintentionally implied no profit, but it wasn't saying no profit. The word none wasn't even in the line you quoted.
It was clarified in my post following the one you quoted, where I gave data on gas station margins.

I was using hyperbole with 'loss leader'. I think most gas stations price the fuel for some tiny profit, but rely more on other products for income beyond keeping operations going. That 2 cent profit isn't just the profit from fuel, but also includes the sale of other stuff at the station.

Which was the point of my line that you quoted, a charger doesn't have other things to sell. The business as electricity and parking, with data collection and maybe advertising for revenue not from the EV driver. A charger doesn't even sell windshield washer fluid, something an EV might need to top off on while charging. The driver will have to go to a nearby store, or stop at a gas station for that.

 

but charging stations could include other profit centers, should the owners be so entrepreneurial

 

Out here, typically, the prospective L2 or L3 station owner is lucky to get permission from the strip mall owner to lease the tiny spot where they put up their appliances. Gawd forbid if it requires a larger transformer at the chosen location.
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That's basically happening with the interstate rest stops putting in chargers. I don't think stand alone chargers could do much now on their own, between the real estate they have, and the needed extra capital. Got ideas if anybody has capital.

Chargers should do fine on their own. Once the population of plug ins grows, and the number of under utilized chargers drops. More EVs also makes investment for other things easier to justify.

 

Around here, about 1/10th of the new gas station/convenience stores are putting in charging stations.

 

that's pretty good. a lot of places lack space for long term parking