EV chargers for small hotels and B&Bs

As a bed & breakfast or small hotel owner, you should always look for ways to grow your business. With the uptake of electric vehicles accelerating rapidly, providing EV charging facilities can offer several benefits to your business, which this blog will discuss.

1) Attract Visitors  

Offering an EV charge point at your B&B/hotel will give you a clear competitive advantage.  

If you have charging facilities available, your occupancy rates are likely to increase. EV owners are much more likely to choose your B&B/hotel if it has charging facilities, as opposed to a competitor that doesn’t. Therefore, having a charge point available could be a determining factor in potential guests choosing to stay at your B&B/hotel.

2) Futureproof your business 

It is only a matter of time before guests expect EV charging facilities in the hotel/B&B industry. Therefore, providing EV charging now will ensure you are one step ahead of the curve and have future-proofed your business.  

3) Generate revenue for your business 

Offering free EV charging for guests would be a great way to attract visitors, and the cost of charging could easily be factored into the room price.  

However, you could also choose to charge guests and the public to use your EV charging facilities. Some smart EV charge points on the market give you the option to monetise the charger, such as the Easee Charge. Therefore, if you decide to charge guests and visitors to use your EV charging facilities, your investment will start to pay you back, and you can generate profit over time.  

4) Putting you on the map 

Zap-Map is a helpful application and website that shows most public EV charge points in the UK. If you decide to make your charging facilities available to the public, you can add your charge points to Zap-Map. By appearing on Zap-Map, your business will show up on the map when individuals are looking for nearby charge points. This increased visibility may increase your revenue as well as your business’ awareness and occupancy rates.  

5) Attract locals and tourists 

Having EV charging facilities at your hotel/B&B will also attract people who aren’t booked in to stay. As mentioned above, if your EV charging facilities are available on Zap-Map, individuals nearby may come to your B&B/Hotel to use a charge point. If your B&B/hotel has a bar or restaurant, locals who are charging on your premises may then come in for a drink or some food while they wait, increasing your custom. 

Furthermore, if your hotel or B&B is located in a rural location, providing charging facilities will improve the overall charging access in your area. Therefore, the increased charging access may attract EV driving tourists to the area, who may not have come otherwise due to the lack of available charging facilities. 

6) Improve your brand image 

By installing EV charging facilities, you are signalling to the public that you are promoting green initiatives and have sustainability goals in place. By showing you are reducing your carbon footprint and thinking sustainably, your brand image will improve, subsequently improving your competitiveness as a business. Moreover, by displaying your green credentials, you may attract more environmentally conscious customers, which in turn, would expand your audience base.

Are there any incentives available?

The cost of installing EV charging facilities on your premises may be one of your biggest barriers to doing so. Luckily, the government is expanding the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) in early 2022 to provide more support for small accommodation businesses looking to install EV charging points. 

The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) reduces the purchase and installation cost of electric vehicle charging points for the workplace by 75%, up to £350 (including VAT) per socket, with a maximum of 40 grants available.  

To be eligible for the grant: 

• The applicant must be a registered accommodation business that has less than 250 employees. 
• Your site must have off-street parking, but it need not be limited to staff or fleet use. 

Are you looking to install EV charging points at your hotel or B&B? We can help.  

Our EV charge point sales and installation services for businesses come with a whole range of support and assistance. We offer a completely personalised solution that will suit your individual setup and needs. Your business, your choice. 

Our expert advisers are standing by to take your calls on 03333 44 96 99. Alternatively, get in touch with our commercial team through the button below.

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