Are you planning a long road trip? Now you can nibble on raw foods and forage for furnishings at a roadside rest stop while you wait for your electric vehicle to charge.
The truck stops that keep Americans fueled, fed and refreshed along major highways are spending billions to overhaul their businesses to keep up with changing consumer behavior, particularly the growing popularity of electric vehicles.
In addition to the addition of charging stations, these travel centers will also be remodeled for longer stays, with renovated restrooms and showers, quick-service kitchens, full-service and fast-food restaurants, and dog parks.
The changes continue to transform the modern truck stop, a piece of Americana that emerged in the 1960s with the expansion of the Interstate Highway System. Over the years, truck stops have often been perceived as dirty – and occasionally run down. But today they’re more like a mini-Walmart, filled with energy drinks, iced coffee and healthy snacks like sliced fruits and vegetables. Across the aisle you’ll likely find purses and puzzles as well as phone chargers and birdhouses.
The changes will make truck stops better able to serve the growing number of electric vehicles on the road, said Jim Hurless, managing director of CBRE, a real estate services firm in Dallas.
“Truck stops are trying to get electric car owners to spend as much time as possible in their stores,” he said. “So they try to differentiate themselves by offering amenities that are more attractive to the specific consumer.”
The popularity of electric vehicles is increasing; According to Cox Automotive, around 577,000 examples were sold in the US in the first half of 2023, an increase of 47 percent compared to the previous year. But many owners are hesitant to take long trips because they fear not being able to find a charger when needed – a problem called range anxiety, said Mr. Hurless, who leads the development and advancement of CBRE’s electric vehicle business.
Exactly how the charging networks will come together remains unclear, say truck stop operators, who face numerous challenges including increasing demand, byzantine supply regulations that vary from state to state and the need to have enough power to operate fast chargers up to $100,000 can deliver 350 kilowatts versus the 1.8 to 22 kilowatts that standard chargers deliver.
Additionally, utilities’ peak demand charges present potential surprises for operators, said Aaron Luque, chief executive of EnviroSpark, a developer and installer of electric vehicle charging stations in Atlanta.
“Electric vehicle charging presents unique challenges,” he said. “But what is encouraging is that traditional fuel providers are on the rise.”
To encourage the development of a cross-state charging network along major highways, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, which provided $5 billion to fund up to 80 percent of the cost of installing fast chargers. Rest stop operators and others are applying to states for grants aimed at locations at major highway interchanges that are at least 50 miles apart.
Pilot, a fuel provider and travel center operator based in Knoxville, Tennessee, has so far received $9.6 million from Ohio and $2.3 million from Pennsylvania in fast-charging financing for a total of 17 locations, said Brad Jenkins, president of PFJ Energy. Pilot’s fuel supply department. The company has also partnered with General Motors and EVgo, an owner and operator of fast-charging networks in the US, to expand infrastructure.
“This is such a new business that you want to find out not only who’s going to show up, but when they’re going to show up – will it be at a time of peak or off-peak demand?” Mr Jenkins said. “We are working with regulators, utilities, states and others to find creative solutions to make this work.”
Pilot, which operates more than 870 Pilot and Flying J locations in the United States and Canada, launched a $1 billion initiative last year to remodel 400 of its travel centers and modernize others over three years. The move is Pilot’s largest investment in modernizing its stores since it was founded in 1958.
“We serve 1.5 million guests per day and recognize that they all have different tastes and that their needs change,” said Allison Cornish, vice president of store modernization at Pilot. “We want to be a place for all travelers”
Pilot’s two biggest competitors – Love’s Travel Stops and TravelCenters of America – are also investing heavily in overhauling their stores.
Love’s, a family-owned business in Oklahoma City founded in 1964, has built about half of its 640-store network in the last decade and is spending $1 billion to refresh its older inventory, said Shane Wharton, the chain’s president. In some cases, this means destroying and rebuilding businesses. The company is opening 25 locations this year and has received $4.8 million in federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations at eight travel centers in Pennsylvania and Colorado.
“From a competitive perspective, we want a consistent customer experience,” he said. “When our customers see the Love’s brand, they know what to expect.”
Truck stops are looking to add fast chargers for electric vehicles, meaning travelers need a place to stay for about 30 minutes or more while their cars charge, said Mr. Hurless, CBRE’s chief executive.
But travel center operators hope to provide a pleasant stay experience no matter what car or truck their customers drive.
“If you fill up with petrol or diesel it might take three to five minutes, but charging electric vehicles today can take 30 minutes,” said Wharton, who expects government subsidies soon. “By providing these products and services, whether it’s food, Wi-Fi, a dog park or a shower, we believe we are well-positioned compared to a charger in the middle of a major retailer’s parking lot.”
The travel center’s development parallels trends in the convenience store industry, which has seen a surge in traffic in recent years due to increasing selections of fresh foods, baked goods and coffee. According to Placer.ai, an analytics firm that tracks customer traffic, foot traffic at convenience stores was 15.9 percent higher last year than in 2019, surpassing grocery stores, fast food chains, coffee chains, conventional gas stations and others related retail categories.
The changes at the truck stops are attracting investors. Earlier this year, Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway paid $8.2 billion to increase its stake in Pilot from 38.6 percent to 80 percent. And British energy giant BP completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of TravelCenters of America in May.
BP is investing $1 billion in electric vehicle chargers at its U.S. retail stores, which include Amoco and Thorntons, said Greg Franks, senior vice president of mobility and convenience for the Americas at BP. The redesign of the travel centers and the creation of an e-commerce platform are aimed, among other things, at strengthening their attractiveness for passenger traffic, he added.
“We have been very clear that our goal in the U.S. is to grow,” Mr. Franks said.
Truck stops provide the market with billions of gallons of fuel every year, so the introduction of electric vehicle chargers represents a big change for the company. But like natural gas, hydrogen and other alternative fuels that travel centers offer, they represent a new opportunity, said David Fialkov, executive vice president of government affairs at the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, a trade association.
“Truck stops don’t care what kind of fuel people put in their cars, just like they don’t care whether people in their stores buy Coke or Pepsi or coffee or cake,” he said. “But they need to be able to make as much money selling electricity as they do selling gas to build a lasting, sustainable market.”