ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Battery, meet barbecue
HOUSTON — Doug Vydrzal grabbed his backpack and headed out the door of Rudy's "Country Store" and Bar-B-Q to the parking lot, where the gasoline cars fill up quickly and the Teslas fill up slowly.
The future mix of those customers — and specifically, how long they stay and eat — is a matter of great interest to Vydrzal. Rudy's is tucked off Highway 290, near a business park. It is a purveyor of fuel and ribs... Started as a San Antonio-area filling station a century ago, the kitschy wood-fired barbecue franchise has become a roadside empire across Texas, Oklahoma and three other states.
To the casual eye, the row of Tesla chargers is nothing like the store, which has corrugated metal walls and folksy red-checkered tablecloths... "We're just high-tech rednecks," Vydrzal said, Rudy's online shopping page yells "SMOKED MEATS." Its gift card page quips, "Give 'em meat. Way tastier than cash." Selling brisket is where the money is, and that is in part why Rudy's has been yanking gasoline tanks from some of its 44 locations... Pumps take up space that could be used for more parking.
And with more parking — and more people who could stay a while, like barbecue devotees or electric-car drivers — Rudy's thinks it can sell more meat.
