Fed up with the aggressive self-interest of oil and gas companies, alert to a growing bottleneck at local EV charging stations, and encouraged by his teenaged daughter to make the switch, a Maryland gas station owner has converted his business to 100% EV charging, a first for the United States.
Depeswar Doley, owner of RS Automotives in Takoma Park, a suburb of Washington, DC, told CNBC his decision to ditch his gas pumps for charging stations owed significantly to the fact that “he was already unhappy with the way oil and gasoline companies structure contracts—such as limiting the use of multiple suppliers, including clauses that extend contracts when a certain volume of sales is not met, and limiting maintenance support.”
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Encouraged first by a public works manager who had noticed EVs piling up at Takoma Park’s two existing charging stations, then by his 17-year-old daughter, Doley contacted the Baltimore-based Electric Vehicle Institute, which ultimately agreed to partly fund RS Automotives’ conversion to electric, supported by a US$786,000 grant from the Maryland Energy Administration.
“The station will feature four dispensers that connect to a high-powered, 200-kilowatt system,” writes CNBC, so “the system will allow four vehicles to charge simultaneously and reach 80% battery charge in 20 to 30 minutes.” The purpose-built space will include an attached convenience store where drivers can wait comfortably and track their charging progress.
EVI CEO Matthew Wade told CNBC that Doley’s new charging station will alleviate a considerable bottleneck in Takoma Park’s existing charging infrastructure, which has struggled to accommodate both privately-owned EVs and those belonging to a local electric taxi service.
Doley hasn’t bought into EVs for the money, though. “You notice there are not too many electric vehicles on the road,” he told CNBC. “So it’s not something that I expect to become rich overnight or something like that, but it’s a good cause [and] good for the environment.”
