You Can Now Search for Airbnb’s With Electric Vehicle Chargers
Have you been browsing through various Airbnb listings for your summer vacation? Like many electric vehicle owners out there, wouldn’t it be nice if you could find a location with an electric vehicle charger? Well, now you can. Summer road trip, here you come.
How do I search for electric vehicle chargers on Airbnb?
Many Airbnb renters were looking to make it easier to locate chargers near the destinations of choice. Since you don’t always get the exact location when looking for a rental, it was hard for electric vehicle drivers to know if a charger was available.
In bigger cities, this was less of an issue. Many areas in big cities adapted to the EV charger thing pretty early. Big hotels also had a charger or two. But Airbnb was left out of that. At first, owners could mention it in the listing, but that wasn’t always easy to locate via search.
Airbnb announced a major update, including 100+ upgrades across the entire site. This includes things like flexible destinations, including treehouses, boats, cabins, and even yurts! You can opt for flexible dates to change around your arrival and departure, and you can find a place to plug in your electric vehicle.
Finding electric vehicle chargers on Airbnb
If you go to the Airbnb website, input your location and dates as usual. If you open the section that says “Facilities,” you can check various things. This includes free parking on-site, gym, hot tub, pool, and now “EV charger” is an option.
While this might not seem like a huge deal, it is! It is an added benefit for both sides of the coin. Airbnb hosts can now show that they offer a charger for potential guests, and potential guests now know there is a place to charge an electric vehicle.
Unfortunately, there is no way to find which kind of charger it is. Perhaps that is on the way or will be listed in the description. Pro tip: if you are a host, photograph your charger for potential buyers! That will help eliminate any issues once your guest arrives at the location.
What’s next for EV charging?
The U.S. is working overtime trying to get the electric vehicle charging network up and running. In some areas, it is already in place. However, many more rural areas or areas off the beaten path have do not yet have the infrastructure necessary. Most recently, the Mustang Mach-E has been having trouble keeping up with demand.
Michael Martinez of AutoMotive News took the Mach-E on an adventure for research purposes. He found that the Ford charging network wasn’t as ready for his road trip as he hoped. “My in-network options were mostly limited to a pair of ChargePoint stalls in the back of a gas station parking lot as well as single stations at dealerships. The closest Electrify America station was about 40 minutes – and one toll road – out of my way,” Martinez wrote.
While this might not be the case for all new EV owners, it is a situation that has been fairly common as we switch from gasoline to electric power. By adding Airbnb electric vehicle chargers into the mix, this has the potential to alleviate some road trip issues in the future. While you are waiting for the EV charging network to come to fruition, take advantage of this new option on your next adventure.