“Electric car charging stations outnumbered the gas stations in Britain.” It was a piece of interesting news that made every EV enthusiasts happy. Does it really make sense to compare the number of electric car charging stations and gas stations?
Electric vehicles were invented long ago but internal combustion engine vehicles captured the automotive market.
Electric vehicles get more attention now due to various reasons. The advantages of EVs over the IC engine vehicles attract vehicle manufacturers and customers towards the EVs.
Charging stations vs Gas stations
Electric vehicle charging stations convert the electric power from the power grid, or any other means to a standard value and feed the battery of electric vehicles.
Different types of charging stations are available to charge an electric vehicle.
Home charging facility is an advantage of an electric vehicle compared to the internal combustion engine vehicle. An electric vehicle can be charged from the power socket in the home.
A gas station is a place where fossil fuels are delivered to the vehicles. The gas stations collect and store the fuel and deliver to the vehicles whenever they need.
Petrol fuel stations are the commonplace where an IC engine vehicle gets its fuel. It can not be filled fuel from home (Fuel will not be available at home). So the gas stations are mandatory infrastructure that required along with the IC engine vehicles.
We can drive electric vehicles even if there are no public charging stations.
- Assume 1000 IC engine vehicles have 10 gas stations in a city
- It’s good to have 10 charging stations for 1000 EVs
- Number of EVs is far less than that of the IC engine vehicles
- If there are no charging stations, the vehicles can be charged at home itself
- EVs may not charge from public charging stations frequently
- IC engine vehicles can get fuel from only gas stations
Does it really make sense to compare the charging stations and gas stations?
So, we would say, it doesn’t make sense to compare the number of gas stations and charging stations.
It’s OK to have the number of charging stations lesser than that of gas stations.
Why we should not compare the number of charging stations and gas stations?
Following are the reasons why we should not compare the number of charging stations and gas stations.[Reference]
- EVs shall be charged home and significant charging occurs at home
- Number of EVs is lesser than the number of IC engine vehicles
- Private charging stations are also available
#1 EVs shall be charged at home
Home charging facility is available for EVs. And most of the electric cars get charged overnight at home. The most convenient charging facility is the home charging stations.
An IC engine vehicle does not have the possibility of home fuel filling. Obviously the gas stations are more necessary than charging stations.
#2 Number of EVs is less than the number of IC engine vehicles
The market share of EVs is much lesser than IC engine vehicles. So does the number of charging stations.
Even if the number of EVs is more, the “#1 EVs shall be charged at home” makes the comparison irrelevant.
#3 The availability of private charging stations
Fuel filling and EV charging are two different procedures. As we know, the fuel filling takes only a few minutes. But the EV charging is a more time-consuming process.
Does it really matter the time to charge an EV?
The private charging stations are being constructed along with other business entities such as shopping malls, cinema, hotels, etc. to increase their business.
The same will not happen for a gas station.
The availability of private charging stations would make it reduce the total public charging facilities.
What if the charging stations are more than gas stations?
But it is really good news that EV charging stations outnumbered gasoline stations in Britain.
The bright part of the news is that even though the number of gasoline vehicle is still more than that of EVs in Britain, the charging stations outnumbered the gas stations.
The more charging stations reduce the range anxiety of an electric vehicle driver.
EVs get way more acceptance in the automotive market.
Conclusion
The number of electric cars much less than that of gasoline vehicles everywhere. It doesn’t make sense to compare the number of electric car charging stations and gas stations.
Key points
- The number of EVs are less than the number of IC engine vehicles
- IC engine vehicles have been in the market for more than 100 years
- Gas stations are common
- IC engine vehicles can fill fuel from only gas stations
- EVs can be charged from Home aswell
- It doesn’t make sense to compare gas stations and charging stations