Economics
It is somewhat surprising to learn that gas stations don’t usually make most of their profits from gasoline. Usually most of the money comes from food and household items sold inside the store. The gas pumps do help draw customers into the store for a beverage or a snack.
Gas stations depend on a high volume of customers to be successful. The average time a customer spends at a gas station convenience store is just about 3 minutes. These stations are typically on small sites in urban areas, so the number of parking spaces are very limited.
It may not make much sense to the station owner to have customers charging their EVs for 30 minutes or more in the station’s limited number of parking spaces. If gas stations have adequate space for charging, they might provide a cafe or some other amenity to entice customers to spend more money.
The majority of gas stations are owned not by oil companies but by individual operators that are licensed to sell that brand. Oil companies have stepped away from the retail part of the business since the profit is so low and the competition between stations can be steep. Will customers keep coming to the convenience store when they drive an electric car?
Gas stations store gasoline in underground tanks before it’s pumped into your car. Unfortunately these tanks can leak. Charging an EV can happen in almost any parking space that has adequate power, and it does not depend on fuel storage. Cleaning up the soil and removing the tanks can add a significant cost for converting a gas station to another use.