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The tough

(need to) get tougher

It’s not news to suggest that the last few years have been very challenging

for all sorts of industries and for countless individuals. The kind of upheaval we’ve seen in the world since the early part of 2020 is not unprecedented, but it is incredibly rare—like a once-in-a-century type of rare. For example, few experts predicted that the global supply chain would have derailed so dramatically or that it would take so long for things to get back on track.

In the retail petroleum business, the supply chain is just one of the big challenges, perhaps the one that’s making day-to-day operations more difficult than ever. In the foreseeable future, though, the change that will have an even bigger impact revolves around mobility itself.

To continue with the rail travel theme, the electrification train has left the station. It’s not travelling at high speed, but there’s momentum behind it and there’s no turning back. So what does this mean for your business?

Well, as the cover of this issue suggests, it’s time to innovate. In this case, innovation does not mean ripping out all your fuel pumps and replacing them with high-speed chargers. In fact, that would likely be a disastrous course of action. But there are lessons to learn from those who have powered the electric vehicle into the spotlight including, yes, Elon Musk. Love him or hate him, the sober mind cannot deny that the Tesla figurehead has had an over-sized impact on the automotive industry over the past decade.

The first EV I drove was the original Tesla Roadster back in 2009. I was handed the keys in the middle of winter and given the chance to motor around for a few days. At the time, it seemed like a novelty—it was light and quick and entertaining. But the Roadster didn’t seem “important” enough to trigger a revolution; at the time, it struck me that the Tesla was a niche vehicle from a niche manufacturer that would never go mainstream.

Times change—and so do lasting impressions. (Sidebar: I didn’t need to recharge the Tesla Roadster when I had it over those two days. This was a good thing because, back then, there were no public charging stations anywhere—another example of how times change.)

In this issue, we share some ideas from various sources that may help you map out the future and capitalize on all this change. The landscape is still shifting and the business is arguably tougher than ever, so the tough need to get tougher, too. OCTANE

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MARK HACKING

Editor

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