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Rutter’s 100-year plan:
further expansion, more gaming

According to the CSP Daily News article here, Rutter’s announced a 100-year plan that includes further growth in eastern and western Pennsylvania, entrance into the Virginia and Delaware markets and remodeling existing convenience stores to add alcohol and video-gaming terminals.

In Pennsylvania, Rutter’s is looking to continue its expansion outside the central part of its home state, with its 10,000-to-12,000-square-foot stores on up to 25 acres of land. Rutter’s Pennsylvania market will run from the east, near Philadelphia, to west of Pittsburgh and north of Altoona.

Twenty-one of Rutter’s Pennsylvania locations have video gaming terminals, which makes it the largest licensed gambling operator in the state that isn’t a casino, according to the company.

Rutter’s has been a PriceAdvantage customer since 2010 and a Skyline sign customer since 2004. A Rutter’s case study explaining their complete PriceAdvantage / Skyline sign solution can be found here.

Shell acquires EV charger network
company Volta Inc.

As reported in CStoreDecisions here, Shell has acquired Volta Inc. The transaction is for $169 million in cash.

In a Convenience Store News article about this transaction found here, Volta’s assets include an existing public EV charging network of more than 3,000 charge points at destination sites — such as shopping centers, grocery stores and pharmacies — across 31 U.S. states and territories, as well as a development pipeline of more than 3,400 additional charge points and capabilities to continue developing, operating and monetizing EV charging infrastructure. Beyond providing a charging service, Volta also specializes in generating advertising revenues from screens embedded into the charge point.

On Volta’s website is a press release from June 2022 where Volta announced a collaboration with The Kroger Co. to bring a mix of DC Fast and Level 2 Volta charging stations to Kroger customers nationwide. According to their website “Volta’s vision is to build EV charging networks that capitalize on and catalyze the shift from combustion-powered miles to electric miles by placing stations where consumers live, work, shop, and play. By leveraging a data-driven understanding of driver behavior to deliver EV charging solutions that fit seamlessly into people’s daily routines, Volta’s goal is to benefit consumers, brands, and real-estate locations while helping to build the infrastructure of the future.”

 

10% of global 2022 car sales were EVs

NACS today reported on an article published in the Wall Street Journal saying 10% of global 2022 car sales were EVs. The NACS article can be found here.

EV sales in the U.S. still only make up a small fraction of vehicle sales at 5.8%, but in China and Europe, EVs were 19% and 11% of total car sales, respectively. When adding in plug-in hybrid vehicles, the share of electric vehicles sold in Europe rose to 20.3% of the total last year.

Even though the U.S. saw a smaller share of EV sales than Europe and China, sales were up by two-thirds over 2021, with 807,180 fully electric vehicles sold in the U.S. last year.

US hydrogen fuel cell car sales
decreased in 2022

According to InsideEVs, US hydrogen fuel cell sales decreased in 2022.

Only a total of nearly 15,000 hydrogen-powered cars were sold in the past 11 years. The Toyota Marai accounts for 11,000 of that number.

Inhibitors to growth of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market include

  • price of the car
  • overall energy efficiency
  • lack of refueling infrastructure
  • limited number of models
  • limited geographical availability – basically only California

There are just two models of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles available in California, the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo.

According to their website, InsideEVs was created not only to publish the breaking news of the day about electric vehicles, but to dissect it, promote it, and, most importantly, examine the how, what, and why of electric vehicles.

Sheetz cuts price of diesel by $.50
through January 31

According to CSP Daily News, Sheetz is cutting the price of diesel by $.50 starting January 10, 2023. The promotion ends at the end of the month. This offer will include both auto diesel fuel and truck diesel fuel options.

This promotional offer follows a similar retail fuel pricing strategy Sheetz implemented in November 2022, when they reduced the price of unleaded 88 gasoline to $1.99 a gallon for one week.

Sheetz has been a PriceAdvantage and Skyline sign customer since 2009.

Congratulations to Chris Hartman
on his promotion to Rutter’s VP

Congratulations to Chris Hartman of Rutter’s on being promoted to VP of fuels, advertising, and development. Chris is part of the 11th generation of Rutter’s ownership and son of Scott Hartman, Rutter’s president and CEO.

This news was first reported by CSNews.