My worry would be vandals. I've seen a few things carved into Tesla Superchargers. Or just kids doing it for whatever.
Tesla chargers at Hilton Hotels
- Thread starter JHZR2
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My worry would be vandals. I've seen a few things carved into Tesla Superchargers. Or just kids doing it for whatever.
Here is more info on Canadian electricity prices. Multiply by 0.7 to get US dollars. Alberta is a bit exceptional because they have a large base charge and consuming more than the 1000 kWhr brings down the price per kwhr.
Alberta is also heavily dependent on natural gas power production.
Everything is expensive in Canada. Check out our fuel prices.
Again, it is a marketing decision, just like whether to include free breakfast with the night's stay or not. I think they can always advertise for certain amount of charging for free like those "free" slow chargers out there, either certain kwh or maybe a couple hours.
Hotels didn't go out of business offering "free" breakfasts, they just include that in the price.
There are usually security cameras around the perimeter of the hotels. Again if there are problems they can always build a different connectors that is useless to take apart, or take home.
If gas prices stay high in BC and hydro stays cheap it will continue to drive EV sales. My anecdotal evidence in Victoria is that there are EVs absolutely everywhere. Tesla’s are dominating more and more, with Leafs still very popular. A giant Tesla service centre opened up last month.
I’m also starting to see high end stuff like Rivian R1S semi-frequently.
I believe almost all of the province’s power is hydro generated and the massive Site C hydro project is getting closer to completion. I think we’re well situated for a significant uptick in EV usage.
Depends how it works. I've stayed in a motel for $30 a night and there was threotically "free breakfast" but was only available in a refrigerator in the lobby and was basically just fruit, yogurt, and coffee/tea. I've had some pretty nice free breakfasts including full made to order omelette bars, and that was after I got it super cheap with a Priceline bid. I suspect they weren't making much money on me.
The oddest was when I had no reservation for a night in Utah, stopped on the side of the road and pulled out my cell phone to see if I could make a reservation for a hotel I'd already staked out (a Holiday Inn) thinking I would have options. I called in a reservation and was offered this special deal of a $20 dining voucher for $8 in their dining room. Sounded like a good deal, but when I got there the clerk said they were always messing that up as they sold it for $20 (in which case why?) but that as a goodwill gesture I would get it for free because of the confusion. Didn't make much sense to me, but I think we spent about $22 worth for two.
As for all that charging stuff - I'm not sure how complicated they want to make it unless they're willing to do some sort of automation. The big selling point is that they're not looking over your shoulder making sure you play nice and share. When I used a Destination Charger, I wouldn't have wanted to go into the restaurant asking for a code to start it up. And if you really want that, that's what the paid charging stations are for, where some can provide maybe an hour or two for free. But in those cases it's a lot more complicated than just plugging in an walking away.
I think most hotels and motels already figured out what they want to do with breakfast, parking, wifi, and shuttles. There will always be some really cheap ones that penny pinch you and then there will be some higher priced ones that just give you whatever you expect at no extra cost. If they really want to they can ask you to scan the room key next to the charger to turn it on, just like you enter the gated parking in some hotels, or you put a tag on your dash so they know you already paid for the parking there, etc.
A friend who is all EV in, lives in Montreal(QC 20% new cars EV) always picks a hotel with EV charging. Sometimes110V outlets (in a pole) other times Level II. It does not always fully charge his BMW i4 however keeps it going.
This doesn’t really bother me, as long as it’s not going to be like all other EV plans so far (where the cost of the chargers and “free” electricity is paid for via increased rates for everyone else).
Maybe they make it “free” just for Diamond members since they’ve already established that they spend money with the chain and let non-members/Silver/Gold pay for the electricity, charged to their room?
Can’t open link to see if that detail’s covered, on a flight to TPA.
That would make sense.
We never use the pool or the weight room though, and we hardly ever use the telephone - so I hope the costs for those facilities (capital costs amortized over several years, plus upkeep, plus cleaning, etc) aren't being wrapped into my room rate either. But I'll bet they are.
In most of Canada (not so much in lower mainland BC or Vancouver Island) all parking areas will have 110 Volt plug-ins at every parking place to plug in a block heater. If you leave your car outside overnight in very cold weather it might not start otherwise.
There has to be a cost to installing them and supplying the electricity. But I've never been charged extra for plugging in a block heater.
I also noticed that almost 20% of new car sales in Quebec are EVs. The rate in BC is a touch higher than in Quebec, but the rate in Quebec is closing fast.
It really boils down to the cost of doing business. In the same area if the trend is every hotel has it you better have it, otherwise you are out of business.
Nobody dare to tell me how low I can turn my AC to in my hotel room, and I bet they can save money if I never turn on the AC. Same would happen to EV charging, either price EV parking with / without charging differently (gate off the free EV charging section with a card reader), or a combination of free slow charging and fast charging at a cost, and your customers will be happy.
I have seen signs suggesting that guests can "do their part" by hanging towels to dry rather than tossing them on the floor for housekeeping to pick up. That obviously saves some money. That being said, I usually find that the towels get replaced anyways.
There's also a difference between business hotels and tourist hotels, although some might be both. A lot of people drive to tourist hotels and if they've got EVs they might be using a lot - possibly planning for it if the energy is provided on a complimentary basis. But business hotels primarily deal with guests driving in from an airport, which generally in't going to be that far away.
I think a lot of the future might be business travel where companies may request EVs as matter of course, so complimentary hotel charging could be another consideration when selecting a hotel chain for corporate travel. I could even see it where there can be negotiated rates where corporate customers don't need to charge, although that might create issues prepping a car for the next customer. Most corporate rentals aren't driven that much, although I remember when I had them I was told that it was OK to use it at night for personal stuff as a matter of being away from home. I do remember one time where I took the rental for personal trip on the weekend where they were still paying for the car but I didn't get my fuel reimbursed. I probably could have though.
I think you are over thinking this. To me this free charging is just like free breakfast, some chains would highlight it as a bonus to attract customers, while others would not and use the opportunity to lure customers into their own restaurants (in this case would be they have fast charging for a fee). I do agree with you that the EV charging at airport for returned rental cars would be a big problem though. Sometimes they are back filthy without enough time to be cleaned before it is rented out again, so you can't expect EV to do that if they are returned near empty. This is likely another reason they would give you a card for charging and you can either pay for it with market price or free, so they don't get a depleted battery back.
My experience with "free breakfast" is where there is otherwise no restaurant that charges for meals. Or it may come as a voucher and/or charged to the room, where maybe there's a specific room rate that includes breakfast.
Eventually there will be more experience and they'll fine tune how rental EVs get charged. But obviously any kind of free charging that will likely charge to 100% overnight would be helpful for the customer.
I haven't rented a car in a while. The last time I did it I took whatever was returned and prepped on short notice. Found it had a slow tire leak and a screw in it where I had to get it fixed. I'm not sure I could have found that out, but overnight they probably would have figured it out and taken it out of service.
The last time I stayed in a place that included free breakfast, I nearly puked. Not even a decent cup of joe.... I was hurtin for certain.
My last stay was at a Motel 6 (on a budget) and all they had was coffee. The coffee was bland and inoffensive, but I can deal with that. I just can't take coffee that just tastes weird. But it was like 80 feet from a McDonald's, so it wasn't that bad if I just wanted a reasonably priced cup of coffee.
A lot of franchised hotels have vastly different breakfast experiences depending on where you're staying. I remember one Quality Inn where it was pretty basic - just yogurt and toast. But another one where the owners were there and took pride it it. They had a Golden Malted waffle maker and they wouldn't let the customers touch the machine (I've heard of people getting burned) but otherwise it was a good experience at breakfast. I've also stayed at a Fairfield Inn where the hot breakfast in the morning was just Jimmy Dean microwaved breakfast sandwiches, while another had tons of fresh fruit, beverages, and one of those waffle makers.
It does vary widely. I usually expect a simple fare for a complimentary breakfast. I’ve had everything from blueberry muffins made from the Jiffy box mix and coffee at a Best Western to a splendid breakfast buffet at the Marriott in Manila where they had everything and anything you wanted.
Breakfast buffets are rather interesting. I've had a few at hotels where it was a regular restaurant where there might be a special rate to include the breakfast buffet. I did get a little nervous a few times when I was told to just charge it to my room where it would taken off. I think once I had to call and clear it up when my credit card was separately charged for breakfast. Usually it's a voucher. One time I didn't choose the included breakfast but my wife decided to go anyways even though it was maybe $30. She called from there and said I should bring the kid and don't be so cheap since we were on vacation. That might have been the most expensive meal we had on that entire trip, and we ate at Disneyland. But it was good.
I've gone on several trips in Asia, where a breakfast buffet is typically included in tourist-class hotels. Not all hotels though. Some were included with our guided tour. But we stayed at a few five-star hotels from "western" brands. One was included in the rate while another we had to pay maybe $20 more to have it included. But that was really good, where it was odd because the restaurant manager sound like he was English.
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