Will Tesla Become An Energy Company

Even with Tesla pushing for an electric car revolution and working hard to build up the infrastructure in their super charge stations and such, gasoline powered automobiles seem to be the norm for most people in Tallahassee FL. The gasoline powered automobile needed some good supporting infrastructure in roadways and gasoline stations and the gas station business has changed over the years.

Cars have evolved over the years with the focus now being more on efficient transport as opposed to futuristic design that seemed to be the focus with the 1950’s fins and chrome. I’m not sure if the new Tesla Cyber Truck could qualify as being futuristic design? Even with vehicles becoming more efficient with innovations in direct fuel injection over carburetor injection there is still quite a demand for gasoline retailing in the United States. Gasoline retailing allows for transportation in more way than one, a commonly overlooked part by the average consumer is the amount of taxation that goes on at the pump. It’s quite obvious driving from Georgia into Florida that there must be more going on in the price variation than the added fuel needed to get a tanker truck that much further down the road across the boarder into Florida.

A quick google search and you will find that the difference between the two states gas tax is about ten cents with Florida having a tax of 41.4 cent per gallon and Georgia having a 31.6 cent per gallon tax. This gas tax is one of the primary forms of funding for all the roadway infrastructure that the Department of Transportation and other government agencies oversee and so as of now gasoline retailing seems to be an important industry.

The gas station business sure has changed in the past century, where gas is now commonly advertised to being sold by the gallon. In the early days a service station may advertise say four gallons of gas for $1 with no option of having fractional gallons sold down to the nearest thousandth / ten thousandth of a gallon. Gasoline retailing was exclusively full service and service stations probably looked more like the service stations on the Andy Griffith show where you could not only purchase full service gasoline, but also have basic automotive services performed. Over the years some enterprising individuals found that the margins on food and other smaller consumer goods had higher margins than automotive parts/ accessories and cigarettes. This brought in the shift away from service stations to the gasoline stations we commonly see today with a convenience store attached.

Also as part of the history of the evolution of gasoline retailing in and around the 1980s in the United States we saw a switch from full service being the norm for gasoline retailing to self service being the norm for the majority of the states thanks to changes in regulations, the introduction of the digital fuel pump and a demand from consumers to save a few pennies on gasoline purchased. What with all the different people both public and private having their hands in the pot for the price consumers pay at the pump for gas it seems obvious that there would be a shift from full service to self service gasoline, but at the time many people questioned the shift.

I guess this all stems back to why shifts occur in our world and I guess with a strong enough need the market will make the change as evidenced by the shift in consumer preferences with some savvy producers identifying a need before others and new business taking the place of others.