More guests want hotel EV charging to be part of your proposition. In a recent Zapmap survey, 28% of UK EV drivers said they had used charging at a hotel or other accommodation, while the number of these charging locations grew by nearly 36% during the year.
Read on to find out how to choose the right number and type of chargers for your hotel, how to fit them around your existing electricity use and how to handle guest access and payment.
How powerful should your hotel EV chargers be?
Start with how long cars are normally parked. The longer a guest stays, the more time you have to charge their car, so you may not need a particularly powerful charger.
A guest staying overnight might have ten or twelve hours to charge, whereas someone visiting for lunch or a meeting may only be there for a couple of hours.
You can use the length of stay to narrow down the charger power that may suit each type of guest.
| Typical stay | Charger to consider | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight guests or staff parked for several hours | Around 7–7.4kW AC may be enough | Check that the car can receive enough charge before it leaves, even when several chargers share the available power |
| Guests staying for a few hours, such as conference, spa or restaurant visitors | 11kW or 22kW AC may be better | The car and your hotel’s electricity supply both need to support the higher charging rate |
| Very short stays or hotel vehicles that need to get back on the road quickly | DC charging may be worth considering | Decide whether the time saved justifies the higher equipment and installation cost |
The charger rating tells you the most power it can provide, not the speed every car will actually charge at.
A car that can only accept 11kW AC will still charge at up to 11kW from a 22kW charger. If several cars are charging while the hotel is using a lot of electricity elsewhere, the chargers may also need to share the power available and each car may charge more slowly.
Your installer should check both the vehicles you expect to charge and how much power your hotel can supply. If you choose 11kW or 22kW AC chargers, you will normally need a three-phase electricity supply.
How many charging bays does your hotel need?
Work out how many cars are likely to need a charge at the same time.
If you already offer EV charging, record when the bays are full, how long cars stay in them and any charging requests you cannot meet. If you do not have chargers yet, track how often guests ask about charging and use your existing arrival and departure patterns to estimate how long their cars are likely to be parked.
Look separately at busy weekends, weddings and conferences because demand may be very different from an ordinary weekday. Include staff cars too, but assess any EV fleet charging separately from guest demand.
A car may stay in a charging bay long after charging finishes. Unless you have a practical way to free the space, that bay may be unavailable until the guest returns. This means you may get more use from a larger number of lower-powered charging bays than from a smaller number of faster chargers.
If you expect to add more bays later, ask your installer whether it makes sense to put in the cable routes and leave room in the electrical system for more chargers now. That may be cheaper and less disruptive than digging up the car park again later.
How much power can your hotel spare for EV charging?
The amount available for EV charging changes through the day. Your chargers share the hotel's electricity supply with kitchens, laundry, hot water, heating and cooling. Guests may arrive while several of those are using a lot of power at the same time.
EV charging therefore becomes part of your wider hotel energy management.
If you have a full year of electricity readings, half-hourly data analysis can show when the hotel normally uses the most and least electricity and how that changes through the year. Give the data to your installer, and include solar and battery records too if you already have them.
Your installer also needs to check your grid connection and how much your electrical equipment can safely carry. They can then compare those limits with what the hotel is already using and work out how much power is left for charging.
Can six 7kW chargers work with only 20kW spare?
Yes, potentially. Let’s say your hotel can use up to 100kW at one time. Six 7kW chargers could use 42kW if they all ran at full power. If the rest of the hotel is already using 80kW, only 20kW is left for charging. When hotel use later falls to 60kW, 40kW becomes available.
The chargers do not need to use 42kW throughout the night. Suppose each of the six cars needs 20 kilowatt-hours (kWh) before the guest leaves. Together, they need 120kWh.
Kilowatt-hours measure the amount of electricity the cars need. Kilowatts measure how quickly that electricity is supplied.
If all six cars are plugged in for ten hours, they need an average of 12kW between them. Load management can share the power available during those ten hours rather than running every charger at full power all night.
What matters is whether each car receives enough electricity before it leaves. Your installer should therefore test the actual arrival and departure times. A guest who arrives late and leaves early gives the charger much less time to do the job.
How can solar and batteries help hotel EV charging?
Solar and batteries can reduce how much power your hotel needs from the grid, but only when the timing works.
Cars charging during the day may be able to use solar electricity that the rest of the hotel does not need. A busy kitchen, laundry or cooling system may use much of the solar output first, and guests arriving in the evening cannot use electricity generated at midday.
Commercial battery storage can help bridge that timing gap. It can store spare solar electricity during the day and use it later when guests are charging. It can also charge from the grid when hotel demand is lower and supply power later during a busier period.
If you want to use battery-buffered EV charging because the grid cannot provide enough power, your installer needs to show that it can supply enough power for long enough and recharge before it is needed again. Using a battery to reduce a short peak in grid demand is called peak shaving.
You also need to decide what else the battery must support. If you keep some of its charge back for hot water, an evening peak or another important use, that electricity is not available for guest charging at the same time.
How should guests access and pay for charging?
Decide first who the charging bays are for. You may want to reserve them for staying guests, or also allow staff, conference visitors, restaurant customers or other visitors to use them.
Then decide how charging will be paid for. You might include it in the room rate, give guests a set allowance or charge them separately for the electricity they use.
Whatever you choose, tell guests before they arrive how the service works. They should know whether they can reserve a bay, how they start a charge, how they pay and whether any parking or time charges apply.
Be careful about what you promise. Advertising a 22kW charger does not mean every guest will charge at 22kW. The car may accept less power, and several cars may be sharing what is available.
If you charge guests for staying in a bay after charging finishes, make sure the policy works for an overnight stay. A guest should not be expected to get out of bed in the middle of the night to move their car.
You also need a clear plan for problems. Reception staff should know who to contact if charging or payment fails, and your chargepoint operator should say who deals with payment issues, remote support and repairs outside normal working hours.
Which public-charging rules apply at a hotel?
Some of the decisions above are also affected by public-charging rules.
In the UK, a charger in a hotel car park can count as publicly accessible even if only hotel customers can use the car park. Chargers kept only for staff or fleet vehicles are treated differently. The Public Charge Point Regulations apply across the UK, including Northern Ireland.
For new public chargers rated at 8kW or more, the operator will normally need to provide contactless payment where guests pay to charge. Guests must also be able to see the charging price in pence per kWh before they start.
You should also establish which company will act as the chargepoint operator. That company normally carries the customer-facing responsibilities, including the requirement for a free, staffed 24/7 helpline where the rules apply. Microbusiness operators are exempt from most of these requirements, although the pricing rule still applies.
In the Republic of Ireland, EU rules apply instead. Publicly accessible chargers must allow drivers to charge without signing up for a subscription or long-term contract, and prices must be clear before charging starts. Make sure the operator sets up access and payment for the country your hotel is in.
What should hotel EV charging installation include?
A commercial EV charging installation at a hotel needs more than the chargers themselves. Your quote should include everything needed to get the bays ready for guests to use, including the electrical work, car park work, payment setup and testing.
Ask suppliers to break the quote into three parts:
- Electrical work: Include checks on how much power your hotel has available, plus the cabling, electrical protection, charger controls and any grid work you need. Tell the installer about equipment you expect to add later, such as heat pumps.
- Car park work: Include any digging, foundations, repairs to the surface, bay markings, lighting and accessible placement. Charging cables should not cross normal walking routes. Check whether you also need landlord or planning permission.
- Ongoing service: Include payment and software fees, maintenance, repair times and what happens if the chargers lose their internet connection. Before handover, test both power sharing and the full guest journey from starting a charge to paying.
If a chargepoint operator pays for some or all of the installation, check what you are agreeing to in return. Find out who owns the chargers, who sets the guest price, who pays for the electricity and who keeps the charging income. Also check the contract length and what happens if you want to change operator later.
How should you work out whether the installation pays?
If you charge guests, compare the annual charging income with the extra electricity, payment, software and maintenance costs. Keep the upfront installation cost separate so you can see how long it takes to recover.
Do not count extra room bookings as a guaranteed benefit unless you can measure them.
If you are also considering solar or a battery, use the same hotel demand and guest-charging assumptions in every option you compare. Charging income comes from providing the charging service, so do not count it again as a benefit created by the battery.
Manage hotel EV charging with the rest of your energy use
GridVolt Energy Manager can control compatible EV chargers alongside batteries, solar and other energy equipment at your hotel. An on-site controller connects the supported equipment to the software.
Energy Manager uses your hotel's electricity use, tariff and forecasts to work out what the connected equipment should do. It forecasts demand and solar generation 48 hours ahead and recalculates every 15 minutes as the hotel’s needs change.
For example, it can reduce charging when less power is available and increase it again when more becomes available. If you also have a compatible battery, Energy Manager can decide when it charges, supplies the hotel or keeps electricity stored.
GridVolt supplies the software and on-site controller, not the EV chargers or battery hardware. Your installer still designs the charging installation and confirms the electrical work your hotel needs.
If you’re planning hotel EV charging, send us the charger models you’re considering, your electricity data and tariff, and details of any battery, inverter or solar equipment. We can check what Energy Manager can connect to and explain how it could control the equipment together.
Fill in the form on the right for more, or get in touch with us via our contact page.
FAQs
Do guests need to bring a charging cable?
Usually, yes, if you install socketed AC chargers. A tethered charger already has a cable attached. Tell guests which connector you provide and whether they need to bring a cable before they arrive.
Can hotels get a grant for EV chargers?
Eligible UK organisations can use the Workplace Charging Scheme, which currently offers up to £500 per socket. The scheme is due to run until 31 March 2027.
Small accommodation businesses can use funded chargers for guests. Other businesses should not assume that a workplace grant covers customer charging. Check the current eligibility rules before installation. The scheme does not apply in the Republic of Ireland.