Fee for charging electric vehicle?

[David3095]

We have had request to allow charging of electric vehicles overnight at our bed and breakfast.

Can we state in the listing that there will be an additional fee collected onsite for charging?

The fees would vary depending on the kwh usage. 

[Adrian2784]

20 pounds is about right depending on the car and how long been charging 

[Ryan3038]

Honestly people who charge their EVs are taking advantage of hosts. You wouldn't set up a gas station at your house and not expect people to pay for fuel would you? People that can afford an EV can afford to fuel it. Most Airbnb owners don't charge enough to offer this as a free service.

[Katie1324]

I'm interested to know where you netted out on this. We have just installed a fast EV charger and I have someone arriving tomorrow with an electric car. Given the price of electricity in the UK at the moment, I have just done a quick calculation, and you can charge a mid-size EV in 10 hours, but it would cost around £50.

This seems a lot, but have to pass the cost on.

Interested to know how others are handling the price hike.

[Adrian2784]

Hi average newish electric car would cost just under 20 pounds from empty to full. 64 kWh X 30p ~£19

So 5 pounds not cutting it and 50 is way over the mark. 

On my home charger it shows how much power has went into previous charge session. 

Hope this helps. On my 4th electric car so I'm well rehearsed. A granny lead aka three pin plug charger can only pull around 2kw per hour. Appose to proper home charger can pull 7kw per hour.

[Bob-and-Marilyn0]

Our guest last night messaged us that the power in the bathrooms and the outdoor string lights were out. 

Turns out that they just bought a $50k new VW EV and unplugged the string light extension cord and plugged in their vehicle. Because it was on a GFCI circuit it blew.

We are looking into getting a dedicated 15amp circuit with no GFCI for future guests to charge their vehicles. It looks like it will cost us less than $10 a day in electric charges which is okay with us (our place goes for $149 a night).

[Jon3581]

Seems reasonable to me to charge a fee to cover the cost.  Would you expect someone to buy a tank of gas for you?   

I think having the option for people might get you more guests because people who own EVs are always needing to find places to charge their car.

[Gillian166]

It's not just the cost of electricity, if you get a dedicated EV outlet, that's going to cost  @$1000 to have installed.  

[Daniel9385]

I don't know about Australia, but no, you don't need a dedicated EV outlet. You could install one if you wanted, but it will not cost anywhere near $1000, and you can get a tax break if you do.

[Thom4 · Accepted solution]

Wow, I see a lot of misconceptions here on the cost to charge an EV.   My Model 3 cost me $12.30 USD to charge it from home for the first 5 weeks I owned it. We used a total 167KW of power during that time period paying 7.4 cents per KW from our local utility.

We also didn't have to spend more than about $250 to have a NEMA 14-50 outlet installed in the garage to plug the mobile charging cable in to. You shouldn't have to install a dedicated charger, only a 14-50 outlet.

A NEMA 14-50 outlet a very common dryer outlet used here in the US.

[James3155]

@Thom4 We currently have a  minimally communicative group from Florida for a week who have been charging their two Teslas seemingly non-stop since they checked-in (our neighbor brought it to our attention since they were circling the house for a while looking for outlets). They have yet to disclose anything about their vehicle's electric needs which is pretty irritating and I have no idea how much it will realistically cost us in the long-run to have them charge their vehicles for a week. From your comment it seems like it shouldn't be THAT much here in north GA so I'm likely projecting my frustration  with this guest who doesn't say anything in general but is ready to complain about the presence of pollen on the outdoor furniture (yeah, ok!). Our cabin in Blue Ridge so I think you'd be better acquainted with costs in GA. 

[Joseph-And-Lorena0]

i feel your frustration and i own a cabin rental in Ellijay. i just added a Level 2 charging system and i am charging customers for the use of it and up charging for convenience fee.

the system i installed is made for Vacation rentals and commercial use.

[Christine1684]

How much are you charging guests?

I am trying to figure out how much to charge them

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Thom4 Wow you have cheap electricity in Georgia. In the UK most people are paying 37 cents per kWh. so your $12.30 would be $61.30. I don't see why guests would expect free gas from a host so surely they should be charged for the electric.

[Ryan3038]

Wow I wish our electricity was that cheap. It's double that here.

[Mary1523]

I agree - it is a very heated topic. Had a similar experience when I was providing helpful suggestions as an EV owner to another host a few months ago. I provide an EV charger and it gets me business.

It's just a lack of knowledge about what really happens in real life. As more people have friends/family getting an EV and it becomes more mainstream, I think the tension on this will lessen.

I'll repeat what I said then (to most of your points):

1.EV owners aren't likely to rock up empty, too risky, it will most likely be a top up

2. EV owners know that any charging they get access to in a residential home will be slow, so again not going to rely upon it, but they might like to charge overnight

3. EV owners tend to be more energy aware on the whole (in my research), so who is to say that guests who run the heating or cooling 24 hours a day aren't consuming more power than the occasional EV charge

4. Charging is a mindset shift, this thought that you dont give free gas, so why free electric, is no where in my thinking as an EV owner. We think very different. EV charging should be everywhere, and happy to pay for it (if asked). But keep it low, you aren't there to make money off it. It costs less than you think. 

5. EV owners will be responsible in when to charge usually, and will ask when is the best time to charge ie when your rates are cheapest, or you tell them when to charge

It's rare to find an 'entitled' EV owner who will abuse your charging situation. Most of us are just doing it to save money or save the planet.

You can choose to offer it, charge for it or provide it for  free. Frankly i provide mine for free. Helps with the ratings.

Thank you!