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A big factor for women buying EVs is that they DON'T have to go to gas stations anymore. EV chargers belong in safe, bright areas as you sit in your car or som

A big factor for women buying EVs is that they DON'T have to go to gas stations anymore. EV chargers belong in safe, bright areas as you sit in your car or somewhere else for 20-30 minutes. A gas station parking lot is not clean and safe, in Germany or elsewhere. I can't believe McDonald's hasn't realized the huge potential here. They have the real estate, they have the safety and could get a ton of customers eating out of pure boredom.

profunctor 3y ago
So you have any data to back this up? A gas station parking lot is a safe as a McDonalds. They are often covered with CCTV too.
- shadowtree 3y ago
  https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/tables/table-7 https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-... Gas and Service Stations have their own category as they are a significant target for crime. Unlocked vehicles, stores open at night, cash on site, etc. Here is an advisory by the Florida Sherriff's on how to deal with gas stations: https://www.flsheriffs.org/uploads/docs/How_to_Prevent_Gas_Station_Theft.pdf https://www.flsheriffs.org/uploads/docs/How_to_Prevent_Gas_S... CCTV prevents no crime, it exists for insurance purposes. But hey, TALK TO WOMEN, you will learn a lot. Safety/Risk is a totally different perception and issue across gender lines. Just like why humanity agreed on separating bathrooms in the first place.
- r00fus 3y ago
  Anecdotally speaking (in a very safe part of California), my wife got robbed at a gas station. Since she was driving a large vehicle with tinted windows, the thief simply pulled up to the passenger side while she was gassing up, opened the car door (door guaranteed unlocked for gassing up), waved to my 4yo daughter in the back row, and grabbed my wife's purse, then hopped back in her car and sped away. The CCTV at the gas station was useless.
mschuster91 3y ago
> I can't believe McDonald's hasn't realized the huge potential here. They have the real estate, they have the safety and could get a ton of customers eating out of pure boredom. They'd end up with half the neighborhood using up all the parking space (which is really expensive in urban areas) to charge their EVs for hours, buying nothing at all at worst or a cheeseburger at best.
- skrause 3y ago
  In Germany there are basically only two kinds McDonald's: - Those in the city centers which mostly offer no parking space at all. - Those which are so far outside the urban area that parking is no problem anyway.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    Of which quite a few already offer chargers. Software is easy to deploy at scale. Hardware isn't, and infrastructure even less so. Sometimes HNs bias for software really shows...
- ImJamal 3y ago
  If this is a big enough of a problem it seems like they could enable the charger when you order food?
RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago
I am not so sure about that, especially in the US. While some gas stations may be in badly lit areas, a lot of gas stations are in pretty well-lit and well trafficked areas. In addition, with pay at the pump and the speed of filling a car, you can basically tap your credit card, fill up your car, and be out of there in 2-3 minutes. Even a minute’s with of pumped gas will probably give you a 100 mile range. And if you have kids, in the car, maybe sleeping, they can remain in the car while you pump gas. An EV charge will take at least 15 minutes minimum maybe more. You likely have to go find somewhere nearby where you can sit and wait for your car to charge.
m3adow 3y ago
This sounds like anecdotal evidence and I never heard this reason before. Do you have any sources supporting your claims?
huijzer 3y ago
> I can't believe McDonald's hasn't realized the huge potential here. They have the real estate, they have the safety and could get a ton of customers eating out of pure boredom. I’ve seen multiple MacDonald’s already in the Netherlands and Germany with one or two charging spots. My guess is that they are measuring return on investment and will go for it once the return looks good. Same for Shell. They also have a few chargers at various locations.
Zandikar 3y ago
That highly depends on the franchise/gas station in question. Gas stations are typically more dangerous because there's far more foot traffic in close proximity, and it's more socially acceptable and expected at night at a gas station than at a McDonald's (which tend to close lobbies at night). I feel like this makes more sense for a big box store, you know, a place where you would naturally park your car for a time anyway, not a place you tend to try to get in and out of relatively quickly - or often never leaving your car at all. That said, there are big picture infrastructure considerations (Eg, load on the grid at differing times of day). If the convention moves to charging at destinations (eg work, stores), that could see the power needs once met by gasoline now being offloaded onto the grid during day hours, and that's likely not ideal vs charging overnight.

profunctor 3y ago

So you have any data to back this up? A gas station parking lot is a safe as a McDonalds. They are often covered with CCTV too.

shadowtree 3y ago
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/tables/table-7 https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-... Gas and Service Stations have their own category as they are a significant target for crime. Unlocked vehicles, stores open at night, cash on site, etc. Here is an advisory by the Florida Sherriff's on how to deal with gas stations: https://www.flsheriffs.org/uploads/docs/How_to_Prevent_Gas_Station_Theft.pdf https://www.flsheriffs.org/uploads/docs/How_to_Prevent_Gas_S... CCTV prevents no crime, it exists for insurance purposes. But hey, TALK TO WOMEN, you will learn a lot. Safety/Risk is a totally different perception and issue across gender lines. Just like why humanity agreed on separating bathrooms in the first place.
r00fus 3y ago
Anecdotally speaking (in a very safe part of California), my wife got robbed at a gas station. Since she was driving a large vehicle with tinted windows, the thief simply pulled up to the passenger side while she was gassing up, opened the car door (door guaranteed unlocked for gassing up), waved to my 4yo daughter in the back row, and grabbed my wife's purse, then hopped back in her car and sped away. The CCTV at the gas station was useless.

mschuster91 3y ago

> I can't believe McDonald's hasn't realized the huge potential here. They have the real estate, they have the safety and could get a ton of customers eating out of pure boredom. They'd end up with half the neighborhood using up all the parking space (which is really expensive in urban areas) to charge their EVs for hours, buying nothing at all at worst or a cheeseburger at best.

skrause 3y ago
In Germany there are basically only two kinds McDonald's: - Those in the city centers which mostly offer no parking space at all. - Those which are so far outside the urban area that parking is no problem anyway.
- hef19898 3y ago
  Of which quite a few already offer chargers. Software is easy to deploy at scale. Hardware isn't, and infrastructure even less so. Sometimes HNs bias for software really shows...
ImJamal 3y ago
If this is a big enough of a problem it seems like they could enable the charger when you order food?

RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago

I am not so sure about that, especially in the US. While some gas stations may be in badly lit areas, a lot of gas stations are in pretty well-lit and well trafficked areas. In addition, with pay at the pump and the speed of filling a car, you can basically tap your credit card, fill up your car, and be out of there in 2-3 minutes. Even a minute’s with of pumped gas will probably give you a 100 mile range. And if you have kids, in the car, maybe sleeping, they can remain in the car while you pump gas. An EV charge will take at least 15 minutes minimum maybe more. You likely have to go find somewhere nearby where you can sit and wait for your car to charge.

m3adow 3y ago

This sounds like anecdotal evidence and I never heard this reason before. Do you have any sources supporting your claims?

huijzer 3y ago

> I can't believe McDonald's hasn't realized the huge potential here. They have the real estate, they have the safety and could get a ton of customers eating out of pure boredom. I’ve seen multiple MacDonald’s already in the Netherlands and Germany with one or two charging spots. My guess is that they are measuring return on investment and will go for it once the return looks good. Same for Shell. They also have a few chargers at various locations.

Zandikar 3y ago

That highly depends on the franchise/gas station in question. Gas stations are typically more dangerous because there's far more foot traffic in close proximity, and it's more socially acceptable and expected at night at a gas station than at a McDonald's (which tend to close lobbies at night). I feel like this makes more sense for a big box store, you know, a place where you would naturally park your car for a time anyway, not a place you tend to try to get in and out of relatively quickly - or often never leaving your car at all. That said, there are big picture infrastructure considerations (Eg, load on the grid at differing times of day). If the convention moves to charging at destinations (eg work, stores), that could see the power needs once met by gasoline now being offloaded onto the grid during day hours, and that's likely not ideal vs charging overnight.