Motels friendly to evs

Pet owners know that certain motel chains accept pets as a matter of policy. Are there any motel chains which will allow guests to recharge electric cars, presumably using 120 volts, as a matter of policy?

I would suggest asking motels if they have any RV facilities. Those would be the ones most likely to have outlets available.

I've been thinking about starting with motels that have laundry facilities. They could possibly have a spare 240v receptacle that Phil's upgraded L1 (which I have) could use.

Ray

Here's a bed and breakfast in the beach town of Santa Cruz, California that has a J-1772 charger for overnight guests. It also has a solar array so the electricity is from a renewable resource. The owner of the place drives a Leaf. www.adobeongreen.com

http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/142299-1306400815-northern-california-budget-hotel-charges-up-green-efforts.html

Online PR News – 26-May-2011 –Super8Ukiah of Ukiah, CA continues to set the standard for environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient lodging facilities with new upgrades and installations:

- AeroVironment electric vehicle charging stations for EV-driving guests

- Upgrades to parking lot lighting – subsidized by local utility company

UKIAH – Super8Ukiah, Mendocino County’s only green certified hotel, combines modern luxuries with sustainable lodging practices. The property recently upped its green game by becoming the area’s only hotel to offer an on-site electric vehicle (EV) charging station.

“We are proud to be the first and only hotel in Ukiah and Mendocino County to have installed a charging station for our hotel guests and public use,” says Raakesh Patel, Super8Ukiah’s owner. “We are also the first Super8 and the first hotel in the Wyndham group to offer this type of amenity.”

Click to expand...

Brings new meaning to "We'll leave the light on for you"

The ev-ers response: "Good, I'll unscrew the bulb and screw in a plug adapter"

As of 4/18/11, the Creekside Inn, 3400 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA (Greystone Hotel Group)

offers a Free Chargepoint (Coulomb Tech) EVSE L2 for guests and visitors.

1(650)493-2411

Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass also has a "Juice Bar" available free to hotel guests. From what I can tell, they have gone outlet route, with at least one 240v 50/60a outlet, and at least one 120v 20a outlet. Sounds like the perfect venue to use your Ingineer modded portable EVSE!

Also, the Westin Hotel, LAX, let me charge when I was a guest there last month. There were two easily accessible 120v outlets that I found on just the ground floor of the parking structure - one to the rear on the west side, by the oversized vehicle parking area, and one to the east at the front, near the lobby entrance. If you have any trouble with the staff giving you the OK, ask for the manager, Glenn Sampert, and tell him that you are "a friend of Mike W.". Mr. Sampert tells me that they are giving serious consideration to installing J1772 charging stations too!

You should mention to them that while they install a 1772 station they should also install a couple of 120V sockets and a couple of RV 240V sockets .. they are already going to the expense of running the wiring so it should not be much more. We know that EVERY foreseeable electric car in the future will come with a portable 120V charger.

I think we'll all do a GREAT service to EVs if we specifically tell the manger/owner of whatever business we go to (that offers an outlet/J1772 for charging) "your outlet and support of EVs is SPECIFICALLY why I came here and not to your competition."

If the idea gets out there that EVers are more loyal than the average customer, it'll pay dividends in the long run..

We won't need to do this forever, but initially, I plan to go out of my way to let them know my appreciation.

Don't forget that all Starwood Element Hotels have at least a 120V plug for vehicles. They are currently in the process of having J1772s installed. There are only 11 of them, none in California, but it is planned to be Starwoods fastest growning chain in the next couple of years.

DarkStar said:

I would suggest asking motels if they have any RV facilities. Those would be the ones most likely to have outlets available.

Click to expand...

Good suggestion.

At first I thought that when staying at a basic chain motel where you park outside your room, we could just run a cable into the room through the window and power our modified L1/L2 portable EVSEs from the A/C/Heat-pump receptacle. Of course some of the time you might need the A/C more than the charge. Last year, while staying at several motels, I asked about this, and I never got a favorable response. Folks are worried that someone might trip over the cable, etc. I would hope for a more favorable response when staying at a B&B or individually-owned motel.

When any of us are staying at a chain model or hotel, do you suppose it would be worthwhile to ask the management for a contact person at headquarters to whom we could suggest a policy of installing charging facilities ?

I stayed and charged my Leaf at the Westin in Napa Ca last week. I called ahead and they said they didn't have EV chargers... so I then asked if they had a 120v outlet near any of the parking stalls and they did.. by the elevator in the parking garage. It was valet parking so I showed them how to plug it in with my portable charger and they unplugged the car and put my charger in the trunk when I was ready to go the next morning. I also went wine tasting a few spots and was able to find plugs to charge and keep topped of so I could push my daily range over 100 miles.

The InnMarin in Novato, Calif. has recently installed a ChargePoint station. Novato is just about 20 mi N. of San Francisco.

http://innmarin.com/

EVDrive said:

I stayed and charged my Leaf at the Westin in Napa Ca last week. I called ahead and they said they didn't have EV chargers... so I then asked if they had a 120v outlet near any of the parking stalls and they did.. by the elevator in the parking garage. It was valet parking so I showed them how to plug it in with my portable charger and they unplugged the car and put my charger in the trunk when I was ready to go the next morning. I also went wine tasting a few spots and was able to find plugs to charge and keep topped of so I could push my daily range over 100 miles.

Click to expand...

Wow! Nice! :mrgreen:

xtremeflyer said:

Don't forget that all Starwood Element Hotels have at least a 120V plug for vehicles. They are currently in the process of having J1772s installed. There are only 11 of them, none in California, but it is planned to be Starwoods fastest growning chain in the next couple of years.

Click to expand...

Plugshare verifies that a Chargepoint J1772 has been installed at Element Hotel Las Vegas, 10555 Discovery Dr , Las Vegas NV, with photo taken 6 months ago.

This thread has been dormant since 2011. How about folks updating this rather short list by submitting more hotel/motel EVSE discoveries ? I suggest you include cases where an EVSE is within 200 yds of a hotel/motel in a location safe for overnight parking.

I propose that whenever one of us stays in a motel or hotel, they suggest to the management that they consider installing one or more L2 EVSE. If they start hearing this suggestion multiple times, a few of them might take some action. Getting a full charge overnight could really expand the horizon of EV travel.

My addition to this list:
Pechanga Casino near Temecula, CA has 6 free AV J1772. No abuse while I was there last Spring.

We installed a dedicated L1 EV Parking space/charging area at our hotel:
Best Western Date Tree Hotel in Indio, CA.

Put this up on Plugshare. Have already had two people use the spot: A Leaf owner and a Volt owner. It is free! If you are spending the night...the trickle charge should work fine.

We may put in a L2 charger...but the owner wants to see what sort of demand we get on what we already have.

Equidistant from my home in Koreatown west of downtown L.A. - each less than two miles away - are two motor hotels equipped with three Blink EVSE stations each.

1) Hollywood Hotel, 1160 N. Vermont Ave. LA 90029

2) Hotel Solaire, 1710 W. 7th St., LA 90017

The Blink stations at both properties are financially supported by the network, so are not free to guests. But they are well-placed and signage is good, so in my experience they are not often ICEd. In the case of the Hollywood Hotel, parking is gated and expensive, so public parking and charging is discouraged. Hotel Solaire's parking area is ungated and free, therefore more friendly and accessible to non-guests of the hotel.

woodyas said:

We installed a dedicated L1 EV Parking space/charging area at our hotel:
Best Western Date Tree Hotel in Indio, CA.

Put this up on Plugshare. Have already had two people use the spot: A Leaf owner and a Volt owner. It is free! If you are spending the night...the trickle charge should work fine.

We may put in a L2 charger...but the owner wants to see what sort of demand we get on what we already have.

Click to expand...

A very good first step. A LEAF owner posted your site to Plugshare, including pictures, 22 days ago.

An overnight charge of 9 hours on L1 will fill up a Volt, but it will only fill a LEAF about 1/2 full. Consider adding a basic NEMA 14-50 240V outlet with 50A breaker, which would be much cheaper than a full J1772 L2. This would allow a LEAF, RAV4 EV, and even a Tesla Model-S with 85 kWh battery to fill up completely overnight using portable EVSEs.

tbleakne said:

Consider adding a basic NEMA 14-50 240V outlet with 50A breaker, which would be much cheaper than a full J1772 L2. This would allow a LEAF, RAV4 EV, and even a Tesla Model-S with 85 kWh battery to fill up completely overnight using portable EVSEs.

Click to expand...

+1

For $30, plus installation, you can have an RV 50 amp outlet (NEMA 14-50) at your hotel. I use RV parks semi-regularly just for this service in my Rav4. Actually, I just did it yesterday to complete a 200 mile drive out to the desert.


GE 50 Amp Temporary RV Power Outlet
Model # U054P Internet # 100193650 Store SKU # 698458

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100193650/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=698458&storeId=10051#.UOJ0vXy9KSM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This Midwest Electric Power Outlet for RV Trailer Parks can be surface mounted to a post at the trailer site. This unit features unique requirements including user safety and rugged construction. It also offers weather protection, receptacle versatility and attractiveness.


It has a one-year warranty.
It features all-in-one construction for factory assured terminations
It has rolled edge door for cord protection
It is manufactured from heavy G-90 zinc coated steel resisting corrosion and fading.
It has a welded flange NEMA 3R construction
It is provisioned for a padlock
It is UL Listed
MFG Brand Name : GE
MFG Model # : U054P
MFG Part # : U054P