Chargemaster partners with hotel group
Chargemaster, the UK’s largest supplier and operator of electric vehicle (EV) charging points has partnered with AccorHotels, owner of ibis and Novotel, to offer EV charging points at its hotels across the UK.
Rolling out at the beginning of 2016, the first phase will see 60 hotels receive EV charging points as part of Chargemaster’s Polar network. The charging points will be free to use for ibis and Novotel visitors to charge their electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The charging points will be 22kW or 7kW state-of-the-art fast chargers, enabling electric cars to be charged in 60 minutes. However, residents are likely to take full advantage of the facility for charging their EVs overnight.
Chargemaster CEO, David Martell said, ‘This is a major step forward in the provision of destination charging in the UK. Hotels are one of the obvious locations where EV drivers have a fundamental need for charging facilities and we are delighted to work with AccorHotels to achieve this.’
He added, ‘We expect hotels to adopt electric vehicle charging as a customer service in the same way that they have provided wifi across the board.’
With electric and plug-in hybrid car sales in the UK having quadrupled over the last 18 months, it is widely forecast that one in 10 new cars by 2020 will be electric or plug-in, making destination charging vital for the future-proofing of infrastructure.
