GLOBAL UPDATE : OPERATIONS
Charging ahead
A guest vehicle charges at The Ritz-Carlton Charlotte in
Charlotte , North Carolina .
Hotels are installing vehiclecharging stations despite lack of use .
By Nathan Greenhalgh , associate editor
Hotel companies are betting on the long-term success of electric and hybrid vehicles by installing electric vehicle-charging stations , predominantly in North America , even absent consumer demand for such stations . The percentage of North American drivers using plug-in electric vehicles remains a sliver ( hybrids represented around 2 % of new car purchases in October 2011 , according to a HybridCars . com / Baum & Associates report ), but that has not broken the wave of hotels installing onsite charging stations .
The Umstead Hotel & Spa , a 5-star , 150-room property in Cary , North Carolina , paid for the recent installation of its charging stations at a cost of US $ 7,400 . The Umstead anticipates keeping the stations as a permanent feature despite a lack of use now . “ We have had very limited usage so far , but are hoping for more as the trend grows ,” says General Manager Jim
Belay . “ Less than 2 % of our guests currently drive electric vehicles .”
Independent hotels like The Umstead are hardly alone in investing in charging stations . Marriott International now has 32 charging stations at 17 properties globally . “ We are working with several providers to build electric vehicle-charging infrastructure ,” says Felicia McLemore , Marriott ’ s director of global corporate relations . “ Up to now , the hotel management and ownership entities have incurred the bulk of the cost of the station installations . Government grants have been available to help .”
Charging stations are part of a larger Marriott project to offer convenient access for business travelers to rental electric vehicles with car rental company Hertz Corp . and GE Energy . Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide , Stamford , Connecticut , has installed charging stations at each property managed under its eco-friendly Element by Westin brand . “ The stations aren ’ t seeing a ton of use , likely due to the fact that there just still aren ’ t that many electric vehicles on the road ,” says Starwood spokeswoman Stacy Trevino . “ The hotels are responsible for the cost of installation .” Installation has not been confined
to that brand . Starwood subsidiary The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co . installed a charging station at The Ritz-Carlton , Charlotte last year a few weeks before Charlotte , North Carolina ’ s municipal government put 26 public charging stations into service throughout the city .
Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group , San Francisco , recently installed charging stations at Hotel Monaco Portland and Hotel Palomar Dallas in partnership with ECOtality North America at no cost to the hotel company . The charging stations are free until April 2 , says Sam Tucker , Hotel Palomar Dallas director of sales and marketing , at which time there will be a fee of approximately US $ 0.40 a kilowatt per hour .
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts , Toronto , has installed charging stations at three of its hotels in British Columbia at a cost of C $ 10,000 ( US $ 9,770 ). “ There are two stations installed at The Fairmont Waterfront , and one station each at The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and The Fairmont Empress ,” says Sharon Owen , energy manager at The Fairmont Waterfront . “ Even though we do not have a high level of demand for them currently , we are confident they will be in demand in the near future .”
20 HOTELS January / February 2012 www . hotelsmag . com