The government wants more electric cars on German roads. In the future, therefore, less petrol will be used. Aral board member Junge explains what that means for his company.
Gas station operator Aral belongs to the mineral oil company BP, but the company is increasingly focusing on electromobility. It has to, after all, politicians have set clear goals: by 2030, 15 million electric cars should be driving on German roads. Five years later, combustion engines should no longer be sold at all.
So things could get tight for Germany’s gas stations, because fewer and fewer people would then have to drive to the pump. After all, drivers can easily charge their e-cars at home. The board member responsible for electromobility, Alexander Junge, is primarily concerned with this change in the group.
In an interview with t-online, he explains why he believes in a future for gas stations, why charging stations are not yet family-friendly and why many Aral customers are already coming to the gas station without filling up.
t-online: Herr Junge, the end of combustion engines will come in 2035. Does that also mean the end of the classic gas station?
Alexander Young: The gas station will definitely still exist after that, but it will have to look different and take on other functions.
We have started a pilot project in Berlin for exactly this purpose. Together with the transport companies, we are testing the filling station as a mobility hub, i.e. as a hub where you can switch between different modes of transport. All around there are shopping facilities and services such as car washes. After all, electric cars also want to be washed. And of course there will be many more charging stations for these e-cars.
To what extent are you planning to expand the charging infrastructure?
We want to install ultra-fast charging stations at all gas stations where it makes sense to do so. The expansion is progressing quickly: in December we had 1,300 charging points throughout Germany. We are now at around 1,500 and we want to double this number to 3,000 charging points by the end of the year. We are investing up to 100 million euros for this.
What charging time are we talking about with these charging stations?
Our charging stations offer the opportunity to recharge the car within 10 minutes to a range of around 350 kilometers. However, many vehicles are not yet technically able to do this. This means that customers currently need an average of around 25 minutes. However, we still believe that the future lies in ultra-fast charging, because only if charging is as fast as refueling can we win over larger groups of customers.
So you are diligently expanding, but many Germans are still skeptical about e-mobility. Is a faster charging system enough?
This is our contribution as a petrol station operator. But of course the car battery builders also have to do their part. I also drive electric privately and am sure that more and more people will be convinced.
Electricity is cheaper than petrol. So can the price be an argument?
no If you charge most of your e-car at home or at work, you pay the normal household electricity price and get away with it cheaper. Fast charging incurs higher prices because the operators pass on their high investment costs. Overall, electric cars have lower maintenance costs, but they are often more expensive to buy than a combustion engine. It is always a mixed calculation.
I drive a Tesla Model 3 and for long distances I have a Volvo hybrid. Anyone traveling with a small child knows that they have little patience for the charging process. This is one of the reasons why the expansion of ultra-fast charging stations is important, so that e-mobility becomes child-friendly.
But that could still take a while, at least if the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has its way. He put the charging point requirement at up to one million. Do you calculate with the same values?
When this figure was originally released, there were no ultra-fast charging stations, so it was a reasonable extrapolation. But if the cars now have to charge for significantly less time, fewer charging stations will be needed. I assume that 100,000 to 150,000 public charging stations will be sufficient. Because there are also many private charging points.
