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We are shutting down tomorrow, after the current guests depart, for the next two months to have upgrades made to our Airbnb. It’s a large single-family house and currently has only 100 amp electrical service so we are upgrading to 200 amp service. One of the things I’m considering doing is installing an EV home charging system for the guests to use.
The guest parking area is next to a detached garage in back of the house. The garage already has electrical power. My husband says there’s already 220 V service in the garage. I am clueless when it comes to electrical matters. My husband does not know a lot about EV chargers either but he thanks we should be able to use the existing garage power to power an EV charger. We’re meeting with an electrician Monday to discuss what we want done at the house and I will ask the master electrician about it.
My question for all of you is—if you have an EV charger do you find it made any difference in your bookings? Did you get booked more often?Were you able to charge a higher nightly rate?
I’ve looked into this as well, but honestly i don’t think EV drivers are common enough yet to justify installing a specialised socket. Actually i think in australia cos we have 240V as standard i think it’s less complicated, but with electricity costs being so high, i’m not sure i want to woo the EV people. If we could charge them extra to charge their cars, then it might be worth installing the high speed charging box thingy.
I’ve discovered there’s an EV station in the village near us so i put that in my guest manual.
We don’t have one but I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries from people asking if they can charge their vehicles. It seems like a good bet to me, depending on what it costs to set it up (I have no idea).
AUD? Is there a not high speed that’s cheaper? I would think that guests would charge their cars at night so it wouldn’t matter if it was high speed? We had one couple that just used an extension cord through the window. We do have some perks or something, a reduced cost, from our utilities company so not sure how that figures in. I really don’t know a thing about it.
I know a tiny bit. Level one charging is done through a regular 110v outlet. Level 2 charging requires 240v and is faster. That’s what I’m thinking of getting. Level 3 charging requires 440v and isn’t available in residential setting…only those super fast Tesla charging stations really.
I just checked the Airbnb listings in my state. In the entire state of West Virginia, if you search using the I’m flexible option and putting in a weekend, you only get 78 places with EV chargers. If you put in a flexible stay of a week you get over 1000 listings but if you select EV charger for your amenity it cuts it down to 98 places. So, I think it would give me a bit of a competitive advantage. I’m wondering if anyone has found that to be true.
Several of my friends have purchased electric cars in the last year. I know my husband and I are talking about getting a plug-in hybrid for our next vehicle in the next year or two. I am assuming, with climate change becoming more obvious and real to a lot of people, that electric vehicles are going to become much more common.
There are only 5 AirBnBs within 30 minutes of mine that offer EV chargers. None of them are in my town. All of them are in neighboring towns or out in the country.
they are using your electricity (let’s completely ignore the inconvenient truth that night time electricity is mostly powered by coal), and if they plug it in at 6pm you are paying the highest rate possible for power. Fast charging at least halves the charge time. We have solar but i can’t expect guests to only charge their vehicles during the day. and even solar isn’t “free”, there’s a cost, and it only provides a certain amount of “free” power.
Australia has pretty big challenges when it comes to EVs, as we drive big distances and breaking down in the middle of nowhere is not ideal. pity they haven’t invented EV with solar panels too, that would be helpful.
One of the new hosts I’m helping installed an EV charger. I am repeating what she told me. I do not have an EV.
She has a 220 outlet in the garage for the dryer.
She purchased a “dog bone” adapter so the dryer & EV can be plugged in at same time.
She avoids EV charging while dryer is being used.
She’s trying to figure out if there should be an additional charge & how much.
Charging cables are different depending on car make similar to a Samsung phone has a different type charging cable from I phone but both plug into a USB or USB-C port/outlet to charge. Having the 220 outlet means any make car can charge
She’s in Arizona where electricity is reasonably priced.
She’s had a couple bookings because she’s one of the few offering EV charging station.
Personally I would not install an EV charger until there was actually some demand for a high-speed charger. It can be done with a heavy extension cord and 110VAC. But until you’re getting 4 out of 6 guests requesting a $2000 “gadget” (or you buy your own EV) there’s no sense in spending money on one. I doubt seriously that having a rapid-charger is going to be a factor in picking a particular AirBnb listing for at least another decade!
As Keugenia mentioned, there are 3 levels of charging.
You can plug an EV into a standard 110v outlet and charge it. they just charge slowly. 8 hours of charging is 40-50 miles.
Level 2 is a 240v (like your dryer). It charges faster. 8 hours of charging is about 180 miles.
Level 3 is the superchargers and are very expensive. Even if I bought an EV, I dont think I would go to the expense of a level 3 charger.
So, technically, anyone with an available standard 110 outlet can claim “EV charging available”. I have installed a 110 (we also get fishing boats that need to charge batteries for trolling motors) and a 220 next to the parking area. I dont advertise as having EV charging available. But, I let them know they are there when they check in if needed. If I did tick that box, I would just make sure I explained exactly what I have in the listing description. That way they know what power cord or adapter they will need to arrive with.
I think the demand will depend on where you are. If you are located along a major highway, it might make sense, since availability of chargers is a huge challenge for electric vehicles.
I have an electric outlet in the front of my home and could probably add a level two charger relatively easily. Maybe this is something I should look into. I have a RAV4 hybrid but wouldn’t want an EV for road trips. I’ve been on 3 one day out and one day back road trips in the last year and I saw very few EVs out in our sparsely populated region.
I’ve been surprised to see a LOT more Tesla vehicles here in Des Moines, IA than I did when I lived in Seattle, and I knew one of the first people in the country to get a Tesla. The roadster is one zoomie ride!
We had a Tesla driver that just plugged his car into a regular plug I think a 3 prong was used, (without asking) . I’m not sure if that worked at all or if it was wrong or dangerous. There are seemingly lots of Tesla drivers seen nearby our neighborhood, but really our well heeled guests have not been showing up with them in large numbers. Maybe 3 out of all our guests.
That link is very helpful! I’d say 75% or better of our guests drive here from a neighboring state. The ones who don’t, are flying into Columbus, Ohio and then driving here (a 2 hour drive).
The AirBnB is only about 2 miles from I77, and about an hour from the junction of I70 and I77. There are actually Level 3 chargers less than a mile from this AirBnB at a Sheetz gas station.
Not wrong or dangerous. Might blow the breaker if there are too many things running on that circuit.
The tenant in a little house I used to manage had a golf cart (which I would guess draws less power than a car, not sure) she used to plug in with an extension cord through the window. The electricity in that house was funky to start with- an old style fuse box where the fuses used to often blow regardless of the charging- I don’t think the electric in that house was even grounded. But her charging didn’t cause any issues.
Lest someone jump in to point out how illegal and dangerous non-grounded electric is, this is in Mexico, the land of no home inspections, funky infrastructure and jimmy-rigged everything.
I’m an EV owner so it was a given that I’d install a level 2 charger. We have had guests with EVs use it - but not a single guest has asked us if we had an ev charger or questions about it which was interesting. But it is listed as a feature. So I can’t say if it has attracted people.
We are in the mountains - so having a decent speed charger means ev people can easily use our place as a base camp for exploring .
I think it’s a plus - especially if you already have a higher voltage outlet in your garage. Your install won’t cost much.
We are currently installing a Tesla EV charger. The reason? We purchased a Tesla and we sometimes use our vacation house. I think it has always added value. We have guests that will book and ask us where they can charge their car. In the past we have provided them a detailed list of all the charging and Super charging stations available in the area.
I can’t say if we would have installed it otherwise. I don’t believe it has hindered our business in any way. But happy to add this to our home features. And if you’re planning on selling your home it is also a bonus.
