Providing this facility to guests is a differentiator as well as a potential new revenue source

Being able to provide EV charging for your guests is fast becoming an important part of the guest experience. The exciting part is that you can differentiate your property by offering this but also make additional revenue if you decide to charge for the service.

In this article, we look at the reasons for investigating this option, the logistics behind installation as well as different pricing choices.

1. The exponential rise in electric vehicles

The electric car market has seen incredible growth with global sales exceeding 10 million in 2022. Of all new cars sold in 2022, 14% were electric, up from around 9% in 2021 and less than 5% in 2020. That equates to 1 in 5 new cars being electric and  looks like being 1 in 7 for 2023. The largest markets are China, followed by Europe and then the United States.

This exponential growth of the electric car has obviously impacted EV charging networks. When driving to a vacation destination, an important factor is planning the journey around EV charging points. This is facilitated by various apps like Tesla’s which allows drivers to locate the nearest available charging point.

However, it does not end there. Once your guests have arrived at your property, they will then need to charge their car during their stay. This article looks at the ways you can facilitate this and mitigate “range anxiety.”

2. The benefits of installing an EV charging station

You know your properties and so you will know if the percentage of guests arriving in electric cars is increasing. However, you will be less sure if travellers are not choosing your place because you do not have EV charging facilities.

If you do a google search for “vacation rentals with EV charging, you will see that a lot of websites come up, including Airbnb. This clearly shows that there is a demand from electric car drivers. In fact, EV charging is probably one of the most common new filters on websites. Additionally, this can be identified as part of your sustainability initiatives.

In order to help you decide the commercial advantage of installing an EV charger, it may be worth monitoring formally which of your guests are coming in an electric vehicle. If you have pre-check-in communication, this can be one of the questions you ask.

Here is a summary of the benefits of installing an EV charging station:

• Meet the growing demand due to the exponential rise in electric cars
• Stay ahead of legislation banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars
• Show up in filters for EV charging stations
• Rank higher in google searches for vacation rentals with EV chargers in your destination
• Be a supporter of the transition away from fossil fuels

Of course, if you are in a city location, it will be more difficult to install your own EV charger. Nevertheless, you can provide a list of nearby chargers in your guest guidebook. Although you will probably want to encourage your guests to choose other responsible transport options more suited to the city.

Lastly, you will notice that PMS platforms like Guesty and Hostaway are now offering integrations with various EV charging installers.

3. The ease of installation

Once you have decided that you want to provide EV charging facilities for your guests, you will need to explore the logistics of doing so.

In fact, the process of installing a charging point is very straightforward. Firstly, you need to choose how many chargers you would need based on predicted guest demand. Secondly, you will have to decide whether you want to provide fast chargers or standard.

There are lots of different designs and you should be able to choose an EV charging station which matches the aesthetics of your properties. In terms of the location of the charger, it makes sense to be fairly close to the property’s electricity meter. This is because the installing company will need to run an armoured cable from your meter to the charger. The charger itself can be fitted on a wall or a free-standing post. If you need more than one EV charging point and have the space, you may even consider a separate covered timber structure. To be even more sustainable, you could install photovoltaic panels on the roof to power the chargers!

DID YOU KNOW? – Providing an EV charging facility or list of local EV charging stations can get you up to 1.64% on the Sustonica criteria! Check out our standard.

Why is it part of the criteria? Providing access to EV chargers can help increase the adoption of electric vehicles, which are a more energy-efficient and low pollution form of transportation.

Of course, the best start is to have a consultation with an EV charging installer who specialises in vacation rentals. There are increasing numbers of companies like this, such as Voltshare in the UK and OK2Charge in the US.

4. To charge or not to charge?

One of the added benefits of offering EV charging services to your guests is that this can become an additional revenue source.

You will decide if you wish to offer free EV charging to your guests as part of a luxury experience, for example. Alternatively, you could use this service as another way to stand out from other properties with EV charging points.

However, most property managers will probably decide to charge their owners via an app provided by your installer. If your guests were having to charge their vehicle anywhere else, they would still have to pay. Consequently, you are offering them the convenience of being able to charge where they are actually staying. In addition, you may then decide to offer an attractive charging price.

Whatever approach you decide to take, you will undoubtedly attract new clients with electric vehicles, thus bringing in new revenue. If you then decide to charge as well, this will establish an attractive new revenue stream.