By Leon Du Plessis, key account manager for MEA at The AI Corporation.

Leon Du Plessis, key account manager for MEA at The AI Corporation

The traditional 10-minute fuel stop is fading. As we transition toward a fully electric future, the design of roadside service stations is changing. For fleet operators, the ‘forecourt of the future’ now impacts routing efficiency, driver welfare and your bottom line far beyond simply refuelling.

The new architecture of safety and flow

The first thing you will notice is that the layout of the modern forecourt is being radically redesigned. Due to the inherent risks associated with co-locating high-voltage electrical equipment with flammable liquid fuels, retailers are increasingly adopting segregated energy zones. You can expect to see more parked vehicles, reducing space and impacting traffic flow and increased health & safety conditions, such as fire-rated barriers.

This evolution means your drivers will require training and must adapt. Large vans and HGVs require updated, site-specific safety protocols to navigate modular spaces. With intelligent grids, onsite battery storage and renewables managing ultra-rapid chargers, the infrastructure delivers reliable power and makes space as valuable as energy.

Rethinking the ‘enforced pause’

We need to address the elephant in the room: dwell time. Replacing a five-minute fuel stop with a 20- to 45-minute charge session can feel like a direct hit to your productivity. If left unmanaged, these pauses result in missed opportunities and service-level penalties.

The best practice emerging among leading operators is to treat charging not as a ‘stop’, but as a ‘synchronised break’. Instead of your drivers sitting idle, the goal is to align charging with mandatory rest periods, lunch breaks, or overnight stays. However, this level of precision requires intensive route planning. You are no longer just looking for the shortest path; you are seeking the most efficient ‘energy path’ that aligns with your vehicle’s specific charge curve and your driver’s schedule.

The upside is that forecourt retailers are responding by ‘monetising dwell time’ in ways that benefit your staff. The future fuel stop is evolving into a productivity hub, offering high-quality Wi-Fi, co-working spaces and healthy food options. A driver who can clear their emails or take a meeting in a comfortable, secure lounge while their vehicle reaches 80% capacity is one who remains productive despite the vehicle being stationary.

The challenge of internal infrastructure

Many of you are considering depot charging to avoid network expenses. While it offers control, it is rarely straightforward. Retailers’ hurdles – such as grid capacity, capital costs and planning permissions – also apply to your depot.

Building a fuel depot-style charging set-up often proves unexpectedly complex. Setting up a fuel depot has multiple complexities, regulations and environmental factors to consider.  An EV charging hub on your company premises introduces additional challenges. Errors in transformer sizing or load management have a direct financial impact and an uncharged fleet will bring your business to a halt. Retailers remain vital, as they can better manage these challenges at scale than individual corporate fleets.

Payment, data and the total cost of ownership

The days of fragmented payment – one card for fuel, an app for charging and a credit card for a sandwich – are coming to an end. The move toward a unified payment mechanism (single system for all transactions) is a major win for your back-office efficiency.

New regulations and digital integration are driving ‘plug-and-charge’ capabilities (simply plugging in the vehicle starts charging and billing automatically) and NFC (Near Field Communication, a wireless payment technology)-based contactless cards or mobile applications as a universal payment instrument.  Where payment and charging data come together in a single VAT invoice with all vehicle and driver spend.

More importantly, these modern forecourts are becoming data goldmines. As an operator, you should demand more than just the total price. The data integration now possible includes:

• Precise kWh delivered and charging duration.
• Idle time fees (to discourage drivers from staying too long).
• Variable pricing metrics based on time-of-use or grid demand.
• Vehicle odometer readings synced at the point of charge.

This granular data combination enables you to calculate the true total cost of ownership (TCO), which represents all expenses incurred throughout a vehicle’s life, with far greater accuracy than traditional ‘pence-per-mile’ estimates. It also opens the door to future revenue streams, such as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) payments, in which your vehicles could earn money by discharging stored energy back to the grid during periods of peak electricity demand.

Moving forward

The transition to EV charging is more than a fuel change – it’s a shift in how you operate. Turn charging downtime into productive time and use forecourt data to your advantage.

Adapting quickly is key. Fuel retailers are building the infrastructure; make sure you and your payment service provider are ready to connect to the benefits.