Don’t compare EV charging stations to petrol forecourts
June 19, 2026
Much of the discussion around electric vehicles is still framed in comparison to petrol cars.
While these comparisons are initially understandable, since EVs are the new challenger technology, they often miss a fundamental point. Both enable drivers to continue their journeys, but charging an EV and refuelling an ICE vehicle should be treated as different activities.
In this insights post, we examine how destination charging differs from the traditional petrol station forecourt.
Much of the discussion around electric vehicles is still framed in comparison to petrol cars.
“How long does it take to charge compared to refuelling?”
“How many charging stations are there compared to petrol stations?”
While these comparisons are initially understandable, since EVs are the new challenger technology, they often miss a fundamental point. Both enable drivers to continue their journeys, but charging an EV and refuelling an ICE vehicle should be treated as different activities.
With EV adoption growing rapidly across the country, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the future of charging won’t look like the traditional forecourt model at all.
The future of charging isn’t at the forecourt
Petrol stations are designed around one simple objective: get drivers in and out as quickly as possible.
Drivers go to a petrol station with the sole intention to refuel. Once their tank is full, they have no reason to stay.
EV charging is driven by a fundamentally different dynamic.
Rather than travelling somewhere solely to recharge, drivers these days want to have the benefit of charging while they are already doing something else – whether that’s shopping, meeting friends, enjoying a meal, exercising or visiting a local attraction. In this way, charging becomes a seamless part of someone’s day, rather than the sole purpose of the journey.
Great charging should be unnoticeable
One of the biggest misconceptions about EV charging is that drivers spend their time waiting for their vehicle to charge. In reality, the best charging experience is the one where the driver is barely aware of the charging process at all.
Nobody wants to sit and watch a battery percentage tick up on their phone. Drivers want charging to fit around their lives, and not the other way around.
UK drivers spend an average of 28 minutes per public charging session. Rather than viewing this as a window for drivers to sit around waiting, we should be thinking about how that time can be used to benefit drivers. This is why charger placement matters.
A well-located charger allows drivers to get to where they want to go, plug in while they go about their day and return to a vehicle that is all set and ready for the journey home. In this way, the charging session has suddenly become practically invisible. Pivoting charging to a background activity while you do something else, unlike the experience at a petrol station forecourt, is the future of charging and is why Zapgo is focused on bringing charging to underserved destination locations.
Dwell time creates value for drivers and businesses
EV charging is changing the relationship between drivers and local businesses. Whereas petrol stations are designed to minimise dwell time, EV charging creates interesting and varied new opportunities for drivers and businesses.
While their vehicles charge, drivers have the time to visit local businesses, purchase food and drink, or spend time at leisure and hospitality venues.
For site owners, this creates a unique opportunity to attract new visitors and generate additional footfall and revenue through the addition of EV chargers. Chargers are becoming part of a wider customer experience, rather than just a means to an end.
Driving forward
The successful charging networks of the future will be the ones that understand how people use their time, where they want to go, and deliver charging solutions that fit naturally around their daily lives and support them in their fulfilment.
This means that the future of charging will be defined by how effectively charging is integrated into the places people already visit and the lives they already lead.
