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With the increasing demand for sustainable fuels, electric vehicles are becoming more common on our roads. This in turn is seeing a new sought after feature of EV Chargers onsite for a guest to access during their staycation. Whilst only small number of property listings offer guests to charge their car at their holiday let, installing an EV Charger is seen as a sought after feature and boost your bookings.

Convenience

Travelling to Cornwall can take many of your guests hours to achieve. Whilst they may need to plan to charge their electric car on their journey down to the South-West. Booking a holiday cottage that provides an EV Charger and parking space onsite is a reassuring to guests with electric vehicles venturing to the coast.

Sustainability and Eco-Friendly

Searches for sustainable holiday lets have grown over recent years. Choosing to design your holiday property with this in mind for the environment, yourself and your guests is another great way to be seen and future proof your holiday home.

The Eco-Conscious Guest

This guest is seeking a holiday that offers an eco-friendly stay. From EV Chargers, solar panels, recycling and creating a holiday home that recognises the importance taking care of the environment. Sustainable travel is new trend emerging across the letting industry. Travel agents are encouraging guests to take staycations, avoiding air travel. When they arrive, reminding guests to buy from local business, visit the local attractions and being open to the time of year they visit to create a sustainable travel industry which feeds back to the area and community.

Trade Installers and professional advice

Trades like NSN Electrical Ltd in Penzance offer advice and services to install a EV Charger. Not to mention a growing number of  independent electricians who can provide a similar service local to your property. Getting the right advice to ensure your EV Charger will suit yours and your guests needs is key.

Types of chargers available:

Tethered

A tethered charger provides a permanent fitted charging cable, ready to use with a type 2 plug on the end for guests to hook straight up and charge. Whilst this is a convenient option, this charger may not suit all your guests needs.

Untethered

In contrast untethered chargers, do look a little tidier and allow a wider variety of cars to charge. However, they can be problematic when guests with different cars look to charge. For instance, if your charger is fixed a short distance from the parking bay, guests will have to ensure that they have the right length of lead to connect. Guests may also forget to disconnect their lead on departure which could be problematic as these can cost a lot to replace or post back to the guest.

Property Listing

When advertising an EV Charger you must include details on the brand, voltage and whether the type of charger it is. This is your chance to help potential guests understand whether they will be able to access this feature during their stay and increase their guest experience.

The cost of guests using the EV Charger and how to manage this

The debate on whether you as the owner should ask your incoming guest to pay for the electric they use to charge their car is split. Much of this debate will depend on the cost of your offering and whether the weekly rental would cover complimentary access the EV charger. If your holiday home is seen more of a fair offering, you could look to offer access to EV Charger as an booking extra in the checkout process and this one off payment would provide them with the pin to charge their car for the duration of their stay. Alternatively, apps such as Fuuse allow owners to set the unit rate for guests to connect via the app to pay for their use. One helpful tip, I’ve picked up from speaking with guests and owners, is to offer initial connection to the charger at no cost, meaning guests just the energy they use. The reason for this is that this initial connections could be troublesome to the guest when it depends on the guests reception or Wi-Fi to connect – especially in Cornwall!

Grants

If you are in the early stages of considering whether to install an EV Charger you may wish to spend some time investigating whether you can access any grants to install the EV Charger at your holiday home.