do you provide overnight charging of electric cars, and if so how much do you charge for it? thanks, never had this request before! Dawn

[Dawn840]

I am not sure what is needed here?

[Anonymous]

@Dawn840  An EV charging port is a fantastic amenity to be able to offer guests, but Airbnb doesn't have a useful tool for consumption-based utility charges. Especially when you account for how much the price of electricity can change between the booking and the stay. 

Instead of making it an extra charge, I'd suggest treating it like other value-adding amenities (e.g. Pool, hot tub, BBQ) and factoring potential usage into your base nightly rate. Just like those amenities, not all guests will use it, but those who do will find it more convenient and hospitable to get through their stay without having to think about fees. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Dawn840 Iam not sure I agree with @Anonymous . A pool is an amenity that typically 80-90% of guests will use. At present an EV hope up might be used by 5% or less. Thus spreading the not inconsequential cost of those that do over other guests might make you uncompetitive to the 95% who don't want it. 

With the upcoming price increases a 70kW car could cost £35 to charge from empty!

[Anonymous]

@Mike-And-Jane0 That's true, but you don't need to price as though 100% of guests would be charging from empty every night of occupancy. It would make more sense to estimate the average monthly amount that offering the feature will increase your total costs and distribute that spread across your average number of nights stayed.

All you need a bonus amenity to do is fill some dates that might have otherwise gone vacant, and to some extent it pays for itself. But you lose a lot of value when you try to tack on visible fees to guests. For example, charging a Cleaning Fee that's equal to what you pay your cleaner would be absolute nonsense. 

[Basha0]

Isn’t adding a dedicated charger a huge expense? Plus not all electric panels can accommodate an ev charger. At our rental property we plug our car in and charge after midnight. It really doesn’t cost that much. I’ve only had one person ask but I anticipate that electric vehicles will be on the rise and may increase the nightly rental fee in the future

[Alan1483]

It’s actually really easy to collect payments on your EV charger using an app called Tap Electric. As long as the charger is “OCPP 1.6” compliant (most are), you can add your charger, set a tariff, connect your bank account, and start getting paid immediately. It’s a free service for hosts — they charge a transaction fee to guests. I believe this currently works for hosts in UK, and some countries in Europe.

[Kirsten266]

My charger has an extra token. I use that token for my guests. In my Easee app I can see how much electricity the guest has used.