Fee for charging electric vehicle?

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David3095
Level 2
Newton, NC

Fee for charging electric vehicle?

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. 

1 Best Answer
Thom4
Level 2
Dalton, GA

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.

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39 Replies 39
Jenny1559
Level 1
Wales, United Kingdom

We’ve just been asked by a future guest if it is possible to charge their car at our property, it wasn’t an ask if they can but if the house has positioned to allow them to do it. I’m not sure what to reply, as we charge £60-£100 per night for the property. Unfortunately ABB don’t have an option to add edition fees for charging a car, this would be very helpful. At least this guest asked, I’m not sure if others would just charge with no notice. 

Tell them it is an additional 20.00 per night, paid as a management fee, or call it a resort fee. There are a couple categories you might choose. Then, add language to your description that says the same thing. Then hosts need to lobby to get a charging fee added as an option.

Also, I saw somewhere there is an app that you can set up with those chargers that will allow you to bill people for using them. I don't recall which one it is.

---> That's how I look at most guests, like cousins. And you know, some of those cousins are kooks.

This was a different charge but we rented a house with a pool. It was stated that there was an added charge to heat the pool.  The owner sent us a regular for money.  
so I’m assuming if it’s stated in the listing any EV would be charged $xx then you can charge the added fee.  
I currently have a guest at a home that is charging his car so that is why I’m here.  
I feel it’s rude but so is leaving a house with A/C running at 60 degrees and leaving for the day.  I guess we just raise the rates to accommodate those type of people. 

We are in Australia and just received advice that EV's can't be charged via a domestic powerpoint, until the house's electrical wiring has been audited and rated by a qualified electrician, to make sure there will be no overloads, which can lead to a fire and possible property damage or injury. A risk to both the owner and the guest as insurance may not cover this eventuality. Would like some advice on this from Airbnb and the experience of other hosts. This is an emerging issue in Australia.

A couple of ideas,

 

- Get a 15A socket installed for quite cheap, and put it in a locked box. Unlock prior to arrival once they pay the nightly EV charging fee, could even make this a smart socket while your at it to monitor usage.

I’d consider this only really for the real power hungry area’s/clientele.

 

- Factor into AirBnB price as a complimentary service. Add to description (Complimentary EV Charging). Could be a selling point, Consider how many extra nights it might get you per year to cover all the charging for that year.


- Forget all the above and add an EV charging “tips” box/honesty box near the socket. Of course this only helps with the % of the population that will use it, and that %  would be different in each area…

 

In the pre screening questions, ask if they will be using an EV. If they say yes, they are probably more likely to contribute to the honesty box when charging for fear of getting a lowered guest rating.

 

- Add solar if it’s not already there, and ask guests to prioritise EV charging between solar hours whenever possible. Again, only helpful for that % of the population that would do that.

it's an emerging issue here in Scotland too.  I've just been informed by a neighbour that my guests who were in the last 3 nights were charging their electric car via an extension cable.  Nothing was asked, no extra money was offered.  I have a really old house, and although the wiring is good, I'm really not sure if insurance would cover me IF A FIRE broke out because of this.   I called Air b n b today and was told to put this into my house rules.  ie. say NO to charging elec vehicles, but to try and point out where the nearest charging points are.    It's really very annoying, and with electricity now £300 per month for the cottage, I'm really dreading to think what my next bill could be... with an 81% increase due in October from our beloved electricity suppliers well, it may not even be viable to remain as a host.   :(.  

I have just completed this for my AirBNB, A standard GPO is only 10amps, where as a EV Charger will draw up to 40AMPS. Therefore, a dedicated circuit should be installed with a 40AMP RCD. Also the EV Charge should be directly wired into that circuit rather than connecting to a GPO. In addition In Australia you can put the EV charging circuit on the Tarriff 33. This is about 1/3 of the cost.

Paul8852
Level 1
Hutchinson, KS

I’m installing a NEMA 14-50 on the driveway for this purpose. I’m between raising nightly rate, and putting a Venmo QR code on the cover to say “EV charging welcome! pay what you feel is fair”.( we have ~0.12 $/kwh) so it’s not killer either way.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Paul8852 with EVs being in a minority in the USA I am surprised you are making your rates less competitive to be able to offer charging in this way. Your electricity price is somewhat lower than our £.33/kWhr so perhaps it is only a small effect.

Weiwei8
Level 2
San Mateo, CA

Hello everyone, I am currently working on developing an accessible and cost-effective solution for EV charging in Airbnb properties. I would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly provide me with some feedback through this survey **. Your valuable input will assist me in identifying the genuine pain points and enabling me to design an improved product. Thank you very much in advance!

 

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