to charge an EV at AirBnB?

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We have booked an air BnB which does not stipulate it has a car charging point.
I said we should use our electric car to get there, then use the 3 pin plug cable (through a window probably) to give the car a trickle charge overnight.
DH says we should pay to use a public charger. I reckon it would cost around £7 to charge it up overnight. £15 on a public charger.
WWYD? Charge or not charge?

I won’t be using their electric if I’ve got other options, just the same as I wouldn’t have helped myself to the diesel in their vehicles if I’d been in my old ICE vehicle.

We have an EV and this is our opinion too. We have a wall charger at home, and out and about (holiday rentals, camping, longer day trips, staying at mates/family) we use a payable commercial charger. The only time I’d charge elsewhere would be if there was a wall charger installed, and I could offer to pay the equivalent £7-£10.

Don’t do it, OP. Spend your tenner on a commercial charger at a nearby supermarket when you’re stocking up for the Air BnB.

My guess is that Josephsrose fear is of freeloaders and pisstakers in general rather than EV chargers in particular.

Charge it at the Airbnb :)

If self catering accommodation starts putting their prices up in expectation that people will be using high levels of electricity then that means that people without EVs are being penalised too.

I wouldn’t ask permission in case they said no, but I’d leave an extra tenner on the side. I wouldn’t feel I had to but I can afford to so I would.

@bellac11 It would cost more to charge at public chargers unless you charge very very slowly at the free ones. The faster they can fill your battery, the more it costs (convenience I suppose).

We can get almost 300 miles on a full charge depending on driving style and roads, traffic etc plus whether aircon etc is used. But that is in the summer. Battery is less efficient in winter, maybe down to 240-250 miles depending on how cold.

I think we used to get about 500 miles out of a full tank of diesel in our old car, which would cost about £84 to fill now so I suppose the electric car is about half the price to run maybe?

We had to charge ours at the holiday property because functioning chargers are rarer than hems teeth.

I would. Some people use things which absolutely cane power. You've paid a flat fee, use the electricity.

I have no sympathy for Airbnb moaners. The people round the corner from me who built a kind of Airbnb shed in their garden have now had a massive extension built so I'm guessing they're doing quite well out of it.

And in answer to the OP, I agree you should ask and offer to pay as it would probably still be cheaper for you. I’d also want to check that the property’s electrics are up to the job.

I would do it, but I'd leave a tenner and explain. That's fair.

Just think how would you feel if your cleaning lady plugged her EV in every time she came to your house without asking?

We stay in Airbnbs quite often and always contact the owners to ask beforehand if we can charge our EV, and we pay them extra. We make sure what we pay them more than covers the electricity, plus extra for any inconvenience and for being so accommodating. Nobody has ever said no yet, but they might start if other EV owners keep charging without asking, that's basically just theft...

Not air b n b but I was at a Haven holiday park recently and people were charging their cats using the electricity in the caravan. I know that sone of the private owners were talking about putting clauses in their T & C to say no EV charging through the caravans electricity sockets and the Haven csmp were also looking into it

Sorry, I should've been more clear.

The battery in my car has a 33kW capacity.

The charger I have installed on the side of my house is rated at 7kW. That means the charger (fancy name for a household plug socket really) is capable of delivering a maximum power of 7kW to my car. To do this, it needs a pretty fat cable, similar to a cooker or power shower (but bigger).

As I mentioned before though, the cost calculation is simple. You just multiply the battery capacity of the car by your unit cost of electricity. So if you were considering a Nissan Leaf with a 40kW battery then:

40kW x £0.29/kW = £11.60.

The charge capacity is only useful for telling you how long it takes to charge.

Normally, if you have a smart meter you can get yourself on an economy tariff which is cheaper at night to encourage you to charge overnight. I actually find this perfect as I wake up to a full battery every day.

As to whether you have the patience for charging, I guess it depends on how you use a car and the journeys you take. I bought mine when I had a 60mile/day commute (350miles/week) and it was perfect. My previous petrol car cost about £50/week. My EV only has a 130 mile range but I charged every night so wasn't an issue. At 5p/kWh it costs £1.65 to charge. My weekly fuel went down to less than £5 and I never have to go out of my way to visit a petrol station. It's completely personal but I accept the limitations of EV's because of the savings and convenience. I'm not sure I'll ever go back. If you can try one I'd recommend it as you might find them easier to live with than you think.

this is one of the reasons we're just not prepared for ev-we're acxtualy wondering if we can use electric that youve paid for at a higher cost (room rate)

what happens when 50 percent of us have electric cars do we charge them at rentals or not becaus it wont be fair and if so then we wont be going

Im getting awful flashbacks from school

If 2 men, fill 3 buckets over 19 hours, to fill a bath of 40 litres, yada yada yada......

😂😂 I know what you mean!

Although once you get the hang of it, it's far easier than working out mpg. It would be much easier if we did buy fuel by the litre and then convert to gallons!

But not many people in the UK work with litres/100km.

Why would you think that it's okay to charge your car at an Airbnb? Would you run your cable through the window at hotel room and expect to charge it there? No, of course you wouldn't. You know that you are being sneaky, otherwise you would just message the Airbnb host to ask if it was okay for you to charge your car. Seriously, don't be one of those guests....

If you do it and get caught, don't be surprised if you get thrown out.

I trickle charge my EV overnight on my domestic supply - it would cost €2 on the overnight rate for a full charge, except a full charge takes longer than the 8 hours that are reduced rate. So in practice I do half a charge, about 6 or 7 hours. I only have a small range (100km). I haven't noticed an increase in bills. It's like an extra load of washing or an extra pot of tea. So on that basis YANBU to charge at the house, though maybe tell them for transparency?

A bigger concern would be whether you can fill up enough in the hours when are at the BnB, assuming you have a bigger battery than me, as you are taking your car on holiday! Can different cars pull more electricity from a domestic supply? I don't know.

@gatehouseoffleet 👏 👏 👏

I’d make hay while the sun shines OP, because once EVs become the norm rather than the exception, everyone’s Air BnB’s bills will be going up to cover EV charging (and, given the state of electricity charges, by an appreciable amount). Current EV owners are enjoying a honeymoon period which isn’t going to last.

Really fucking cheeky.

if everyone did this, the owner of the property would put the rental cost up.

Running an EV will still be cheaper than petrol. It won't be quite as cheap as it was but still cheaper than the alternative; especially when petrol is ridiculous nowadays.

Electricity has a long way to go before it's on par with petrol. When it gets to that stage, solar and battery storage will be more cost effective to buy.

You are so misinformed. What makes you think that Airbnb owners are making huge profits? Some Airbnb owners have chosen to put their holiday homes on the platform to offer an alternative to the usual hotels on offer in the area. If that owner decides to no longer offer the property on Airbnb it doesn't automatically mean that it will be available on the usual rental market for long term lets. It's just one less option for those seeking holiday/short term accommodation. You can try to trivialize or even undermine the opinion of those who think that it is unacceptable for someone to charge their EV at the Airbnb by trying to suggest that charging an EV is comparable to running a fan but surely you know that this isn't quite the case.

The easiest solution would be for the OP to simply message the Airbnb host and ask.

It won't get them out, they'll sensibly increase their prices to cover the cost of EV charging. .

I think I would just ask them. Especially if the neighbours might notice and alert them and you could end up in a dispute over it.

Ask the owners. Seems a bit sneaky otherwise. Charging up an EV is hardly the same as having 3 showers a day or leaving a fan on all day 🙄