AsConnecticutaims to phase out gas-powered cars, service station owners face an uncertain future

Aug. 12—Later on, environmental laws mandated the installation of systems to reduce the release of harmful vapors and in 1996, the nation-wide ban on leaded gasoline followed. Around the same time, smaller stations found themselves increasingly competing with grocery stores and wholesaler chains entering the fuel business.

None of these changes, however, loomed as large as the rise of the electric car.

Last month, Gov. Ned Lamont formally announced the development of new regulations that will phase-out the sale of new internal-combustion engine vehicles by 2035, in line with about a dozen other states that have made a similar pledge toward cutting carbon emissions.

While gas-powered cars will likely remain on the roads for decades after the new regulations take effect, their decline will likely force roughly 20 percent of the existing gas stations in Connecticut to close, said Michael Fox, executive director of the Greenwich-based Gasoline & Automotive Service Dealers of America.

"Certainly, we're going to see less and less service stations in Connecticut," Fox said. "That is going to have a devastating impact on competition and prices."

The number of gas stations in Connecticut has already dropped by more than half, from a peak of over 2,500 stations in the 1980s to 1,156 according to Fox's latest count. Those numbers do not include car dealerships with a license to pump gas to their customers.

Many smaller stations, particularly in low-volume areas, were driven out of business by the cost of regulations and expensive upgrades, such as replacing underground storage tanks, Fox said.

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Among the clearest challenges to the industry is how to draw in customers to convenience-oriented stations that were designed to fill up a gas car in a matter of minutes — just enough time to make a quick trip to the bathroom or to purchase a soda.

A standard alternating-current charger, meanwhile, can take several hours to recharge an electric vehicle to its full range. Even the fastest commercial chargers, which run on direct current, can take 15 minutes to an hour to recharge a electric car's battery.

"You're in and out of a gas station, so it's not like a diner where you're going to go in for an hour and eat lunch," said April Pelletier, the vice president of Newington Electric Co., a regional installer of commercial and residential charging stations.

In just the last few years, Pelletier said the business has gone from installing about 20 chargers a year to more than 200, with clients including restaurants, shops, car dealerships, and a landscaping company showroom, most of which opt for mid-level chargers that allow customers time to peruse the store or have a bite to eat. Those chargers range in cost from a few thousand to $20,000, depending on the amount of government rebates that apply.

While she has gotten a few inquiries from gas station owners, Pelletier said they are inevitably turned off by quotes of $100,000 or more to install higher-end fast chargers, even if they seek rebates.

"It's not something that people are jumping to install right now because of the cost," she said.

According to Fox, the only gas stations in Connecticut that have invested the money in fast-chargers are those located at the state-owned service areas along interstate highways and Route 15. The rest, he said, have determined that it is not worth the investment, especially with many mechanics requiring specialized training to work on electric motors.

"Why would we want to draw in an EV? We can't service it, can't fill it, can't buy parts for it," Fox said. "Not one person said, 'How do I participate in this?'"

Instead of adapting to the changes posed by electric vehicles, Fox said he and others in the industry planned to continue fighting the increasing regulations on gas-powered cars, with the hope that customers will join them. "People, once you start hitting their pockets, they're going to revolt against this," Fox said.

For now, the roughly 36,000 electric vehicles registered in Connecticut represent just over 1 percent of the cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles driving on state roadways.

Amid the boom in electric vehicle sales, some national chains of gas-station convenience stores, including Circle-K and 7-Eleven, have wadded into the electric charging market.

"I don't think this is something that the industry hasn't foreseen," said Alec Slatky, a spokesman for AAA Connecticut. "They're taking steps, I don't think there's a ton of companies that are out there diving super headfirst into it."

The first universal fast chargers began appearing at Connecticut's highway service stations last spring, where they joined a network of Tesla-specific superchargers. The universal chargers were installed by Applegreen, an Irish company that also owns a stake in Milford's Project Services, LLC, which operates the state's highway service stations through a lease with the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Applegreen has also taken over the modernization of more than two dozen rest stops along the New York State Thruway, complete with restaurants, food trucks, playgrounds, and pet walking areas. A spokesman for Applegreen said in an email Friday that the company has installed more than 700 fast chargers at locations across three countries.

"Over time, our business will transition from being a traditional gas/fuel operation into a roadside hospitality offering, where we can provide EV charging, fuel, high-quality, food, coffee, retail, and other ancillary services on the go," the spokesman said.

With the line between gas stations and convenience stores increasingly "gray," Slatky said that successful owners will have to alter their business — and perhaps even the layout of their stores — to remain attractive to the steadily increasing number of electric vehicle drivers.

"It's a tough business, but they've managed to thrive this long and I think some companies will figure out a way to do that for the future with a lot more electric vehicles on the road," Slatky said.