Hilton and Tesla have entered into a deal to add up to 20,000 Tesla Universal Wall Connectors to 2,000 U.S., Canada, and Mexico properties, with a minimum of 6 per hotel. These charging stations will work with other electric vehicles as well, though consumers will need to download the Tesla app to use them. This project will begin next year and take several years to complete.
Already over 1,000 Hilton properties in the U.S. have charging stations and new build Home2 Suites and Embassy Suites hotels are required to offer them.
Overall about one in four U.S. hotels offers EV charging. Making this widespread across a brand will let customers build the expectation that they can find EV charging at their hotel, without researching property-by-property.
- That’s good for drivers of EV vehicles making road trips
- And it’s good for customers renting EVs, which are increasingly common at rental agencies especially Hertz.
I find that EVs are often the cheapest rental at Hertz, as well as an involuntary upgrade. Those unfamiliar with driving them don’t want to incur the learning curve for a one-off, and charging the vehicle is more time-consuming than filling up gas. Dealing with charging on return to the airport isn’t just time-consuming at the last minute, charging stations can be inconvenient. In some sense this decision by Hilton is a benefit both to Hilton and to Hertz.
Historically hotel charging stations have been unreliable, if only because I usually see cars parked there for hours and overnight that aren’t charging. Tesla manages its charging stations well, imposing costs on drivers who keep cars plugged in after completing their charge.
And this won’t help with customers who have rented EVs and need to charge prior to returning the car to the airport to avoid fees. There usually aren’t convenient charging stations by the airport, so a driver needs to increase the maximum charge percentage on the vehicle before driving to the airport. If you’re staying, say, half an hour from the airport you might need to charge to 90% in order to return the vehicle at 75%. (EV drivers usually charge their cars to around 80%, 90% when making long trips, but the higher the regular charge the more degradation of the life of the battery – one more reason not to buy a used EV from a rental agency.)
Wondering if these are going to be complimentary or will have a fee to it for EV charging. Local Homewood Suites has two stations run by Chargepoint that are complimentary and constantly occupied by the same few vehicles who are definitely not from guests of the hotel!
Having a fee is fine, but not an exhorbitant fee – like what some hotels in Europe charges (indrectly determined by the supplier of the stations).
There will be one or two charging stations perpetually occupied by employees or friends of employees if it is complimentary or the stations will be out of service
If it is for pay, it will be very very high. On hotel amenities always cost 1.5x or more cost of off facility.
I could also see Hilton putting chargers in Valet Parking sections only. Make guests pay for valet and charge
I’m very happy to see this. Now temperatures will start to drop because of fewer vehicles using fossil fuels. Next year we won’t have all these stories of record breaking temperatures.
As a non-EV driver at this time I’m a bit confused as to the part you state about it not helping with airport returns. Don’t people leave the cars plugged in overnight, and thus would be at 100% in the AM? So if someone drove 30 min to a client site and then 30 min to the airport, wouldn’t they probably still be above a 75% threshold for return?
@CW generally people charge EVs to ~ 80% to maximize the lifespan of their batteries, maybe 90% before a long road trip. I suspect people will happily charge rental cars that are not their own well beyond 80%.
If you charge to 90% and then drive half an hour you’ll likely be down to 75%, but it varies by vehicle (eg Tesla makes the same model with varying ranges). If you drive half an hour to a client site then half an hour to the airport in almost all cases you’d need to charge again before returning the vehicle to the airport without paying penalties.
@Mets Fan in NC – these will be Tesla chargers, charged through the Tesla app, not free charging as a hotel amenity
@Gary, you sure it wont be free?
The Hilton Short Hills, NJ has tesla wall connectors in the garage already and is complimentary for level 2 charging. I’d think Tesla chargers are usually not free only when its a supercharger at level 3.
@Gary thanks for the clarification. Interesting re: charge levels <100% to maximize life span. Did not know that; learn something new every day. As a layperson, I'd think that for optics and user experience, that optimization would invisibly be built into the controls of the vehicle, and the user would just charge to "100%" even if that was a little below the capacity of the battery. But I suppose they're more interested in maxing out capacity (and thus advertised range) on paper.
That being said, to the point you note, people have always been happy to abuse rental cars and I am sure EV rentals are no different!
I might could use these electric vehicles but it would take some time and be a challenge. It sounds inconvenient and time consuming. If it is going to take Hilton years to have all this in place it is not doing anything to help now.
@David. In Texas in February 2021 the temperature was down plenty. It was freezing and the electricity went off for hours. The gasoline vehicles didn’t seem to raise the temperature then.
Step in the right direction but will still require planning, as 2k is only about 25% of Hiltons will have chargers – think I will wait a while before selecting an EV
No way this is free, this will be a paid for amenity. Maybe elite will get 20% discount off the ‘marked-up’ rate but it will be a revenue generator for Hilton for sure.
There is a real cost to providing this stuff
I suppose that’s fine for charging a Tesla but as other car companies ramp up production there’s going to be an awful lot of non-Tesla vehicles around that can’t use these chargers.
It’s so sad watching these companies jump on the climate hysteria bandwagon. It’s unbelievable what this scam is going to cost us in terms of money and loss of freedom. The level of evil from the government is appalling.
“There will be one or two charging stations perpetually occupied by employees or friends of employees if it is complimentary or the stations will be out of service”
Hotel employees driving an EV considering what you get paid? LOL! Best science fiction I’ve read in a while.
The Tesla Destination (Wall) Chargers do not have the capability of charging anyone. They are actually the same chargers that people like me have installed in our garages at home. I last used one at a Holiday Inn Express in The Dalles, Oregon. It was free, and the hotel included an adapter (secured against theft by a long cable) for the J1772 charging connection that are in many non-Tesla cars. In other places a non-Tesla EV driver would likely have to bring his or her own adapter.