And then there was one.
For now, the Downtown Vancouver peninsula has only one gas station.
While the Chevron on West Georgia Street east of Denman is closed for renovations, the Esso on the southwest corner of Burrard and Davie streets is serving a population that was estimated at almost 55,000 in 2011.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) spokesman Adrien Byrne said May 17 is the estimated date for completion of construction. The station is slated to reopen the next day.
“Chevron is replacing the underground fuel storage tanks with new tanks, including the ability to supply our customers with diesel fuel from this location,” Byrne said. “Fuel line and electrical upgrades are also being undertaken at this stage, as well as the installation of more efficient LED lighting and aesthetic store renovations.”
Is being the one-and-only boosting sales at the Esso?
Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO) spokeswoman Christine Randall declined to comment.
“Imperial Oil does not disclose information related to volumes of a specific site,” she said.
Esso did not appear to be exploiting its exclusivity. Its $1.19.9 per litre price for regular gasoline on May 4 before 10 a.m. was a penny more than some Chevron, Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) and Shell locations elsewhere in the city, but in-line with most reported on GasBuddy.com.
There are Petro-Canada, Chevron and Esso stations on the Kitsilano side of the Burrard Bridge, but the heritage span is undergoing major renovations, and one southbound lane is closed. There is also a Shell station at Main and Second Avenue.
Even when the Chevron reopens, there will be more public electric vehicle charging stations on the downtown peninsula. Three of the most prominent are in civic parking lots on Beach Avenue in the West End, but they are used sparingly.
According to documents released under Freedom of Information, there were 299 charging sessions at the Sunset Beach, foot of Cardero Street and foot of Broughton Street stations between August 16, 2014, and February 28, 2015. Charging took place for a combined total 33.83 days during the 197-day period, with 2,169.4 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power used, averaging 8.76 kWh per charge.
The numbers might have been skewed by the 17 sessions that were greater than 10 hours. One vehicle parked at the Cardero location on August 9, 2015, was plugged in for 16 hours and 11 minutes and used 14.28 kWh. The shortest charge recorded was one minute on September 5, 2014, for 1.34 kWh, at the Broughton lot.
