Two-thirds of Americans are interested in electric cars. Sales of EVs hit a record of more than 300,000 in the first half of the year. Everything seems to be going well for EVs and their makers. And yet, gas station owners are having trouble justifying the costs of installing EV chargers because the economics don’t make sense.

The Wall Street Journal’s Jennifer Hiller wrote in a recent article that some gas station owners are adding EV chargers to ensure their future market share in a more EV-dominated future. Many others, however, find it hard to justify spending more than $100,000 to buy and install a charging unit.

This seems to be one more example of the vicious circle the EV industry has found itself in, despite the Biden administration’s pledge to fund the installation of 500,000 charging stations across the United States. To compare, there are some 150,000 fuel stations in the country, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores. So, the plans are great. But they will also be challenging for gas stations. And yet, owners are still reluctant to cough up the money needed to add charging points. The reason may be that EVs still make up a tiny portion of total car sales, so any investment made in the installation of a charging point would take a while before returns start coming in. Carmakers have ambitious goals, and so does…read more.