EV Charging for 3 guest sets - how to do it?

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I have an EV charger being installed soon in my parking area. We have 3 rooms that hold guests, so, 3 car spaces. I have questions to the folks here who have chargers, as well as folks who do not who have ideas…

  1. Do you do any special mention or advertising within the app to lure guests? I am hoping that people will want this amenity and will look for it.

  2. The big question - how do you schedule it? The charger I am getting allows for remote on/off etc and I am hoping that it will be used at times that are lower in price (evenings). Do you ‘schedule’ usage - for example, allowing hookup but starting only at, say, 7pm? Also, how do I make folks happy if TWO guests have a need for the charger?

I’m looking for thoughts on how to make this all work, thanks!!

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I know that I see it as a filter when I’m searching for a stay so guests looking for it should be able to find it.

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I could imagine that mentioning this in your listing and adding this amenity will definitely widen your target audience.

To limit the hours for usage doesn’t sound very inviting to me but I don’t have an EV. I’m just thinking that if an EV owner needs to charge it doesn’t matter what time of day it is. Preferably, they would want to fully charge over night - but this may not be in every guest’s interest. Also, why would you have to limit the hours anyway? The guest will be paying extra for the energy consumption so it shouldn’t matter to you at all.

So, if I understand correctly you have 3 parking spaces but only one charger. So only one vehicle can be charged at a time. Depending on how high the demand is for Airbnbs with an EV charger you might find yourself in this predicament of having 2 or even 3 guests who need the charger at the same time.

The only way to somewhat control this matter is if you disabled IB and you would be aware upfront of any guest’s need to charge so you could inform any additional request for a charger and take necessary action like reaching out to the already booked guest and inquire about their charging habits - if this makes any sense - and then communicate this to the potential guest and see if they can work around that schedule. But it sounds like some extra work on your end IF the demand is really that high. Regardless, you’ll learn as you go :grinning:

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It depends largely on your location. Near me, there are at least 120 charging stations within a short distance - therefore providing charging onsite has never been an issue for me

Therefore, in this area, an onsite charging facility wouldn’t be an amenity that would attract guests.

I have a Google maps printout in the apartments showing the local charging stations. Many are within walking distance.

Although I aim to provide guests with everything they need when staying here, I feel that fuelling their vehicles is over and beyond

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I am assuming you are not yourself going to be using the charger. Most of the users of EVs and Plug In Hybrids are still not the mainstream people and usually have an understanding of chargers, charging and time of use and all that. Most will fully understand and be happy to try to maximize their charging when it is cheaper (whether it is free or if you charge). There are some networked chargers that you can allow multiple approved users and at certain times and at certain rates. Some you can even let users request to schedule charging times. If you haven’t already purchased get one otherwise I wouldn’t worry to much about those until your demand warrants it.

I have always offered mine for free (and to anyone, not just Airbnb guests). I have a PHEV and will likely replace it with a full EV in the next 2 years. I enjoy discussing them with people and learning and educating. I list them as FREE amenities when I host.

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I don’t see how you can. It might not be inconvenient for guests to work around each other for charging times, but that certainly won’t always happen. 2 guests might both drive around all day and both need to charge up o’nite so they are good to go in the morning.

I would think you’d have to make sure a guest tells you ahead of time that they have an EV, then if another guest books who also has an EV, tell guest #2 that guest #1 has first dibs on the charger and they’ll have to work it out with guest #1.

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That is awesome. What is your experience with EV guests? I could imagine some Tesla owner squeezing every single Amp out of his car just to come back every night and put a $15 full charge into his vehicle. You would eat the $150 for a 10 days stay? Just curious.

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I am out in the middle of nowhere, on a horse farm (although closer to too much civilization every day). And have only ever once in over 8 years had anyone take me up on the charger. It was a friend who was heading home from work on the military base and ran out of charge in his EV (no gas hybrid option) and had to push it, hop a security fence out on the military reservation on a cold day to eek enough level 1 charge to get to my house so he could charge with my level 2 enough to get home.

If I started getting multiple guests wanting to use the EVSE (I stopped hosting for the past few years but will begin again this year) I would likely get one of the chargers I was talking about. I am on time of use rates and as it is I use about 45% of my daily energy during the 6 - 7 hour discount period I get every day and keep my total on peak usage for the month to under $2 (I realize that this will not be the same once I start having guests back) but I would only offer free charging during my discount rate periods. And if I am offering the free charging then I am most likely able to physically sit down and have a discussion with the person about EVs and I can learn their motivations and desires pertaining to EVs as well as educate, and could decide to change my mind about continuing to offer it for free in the future based on that interaction. If they were obnoxious I could simply take most of the time to plug my own car in instead and they would be second priority.

Additionally, I have sufficient energy monitoring in my home that I can determine exactly how much energy they are using and how much it costs based on the time they are using it. I can provide them graphs of that as well when I let them know how much I spent to give them the free charge. If you are worried about it perhaps having limits to the free amount and then charging for the remainder. I could easily do that and provide graphic evidence that they can understand about the costs.

I believe that since I am not just providing them free charge but actively participating in the same lifestyle I will have a much more positive experience than someone who spent the money to install a charger for guests but has no experience using it themselves.

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Of course it depends on one’s electricity rates, and I don’t know the draws of the various types of EVs, but my friend who has a Hyundai Kona says it costs her about $6 CAN, so about $4 US, for an o’nite charge.

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