Hilton and Tesla have entered into a deal to add up to 20,000 Tesla Universal Wall Connectors to 2,000 U.S., Canada, and Mexico properties, with a minimum of 6 per hotel. These charging stations will work with other electric vehicles as well, though consumers will need to download the Tesla app to use them. This project will begin next year and take several years to complete. 

Already over 1,000 Hilton properties in the U.S. have charging stations and new build Home2 Suites and Embassy Suites hotels are required to offer them. 

Overall about one in four U.S. hotels offers EV charging. Making this widespread across a brand will let customers build the expectation that they can find EV charging at their hotel, without researching property-by-property. 

That’s good for drivers of EV vehicles making road trips 
And it’s good for customers renting EVs, which are increasingly common at rental agencies especially Hertz. 

I find that EVs are often the cheapest rental at Hertz, as well as an involuntary upgrade. Those unfamiliar with driving them don’t want to incur the learning curve for a one-off, and charging the vehicle is more time-consuming than filling up gas. Dealing with charging on return to the airport isn’t just time-consuming at the last minute, charging stations can be inconvenient. In some sense this decision by Hilton is a benefit both to Hilton and to Hertz. 

Historically hotel charging stations have been unreliable, if only because I usually see cars parked there for hours and overnight that aren’t charging. Tesla manages its charging stations well, imposing costs on drivers who keep cars plugged in after completing their charge. 

And this won’t help with customers who have rented EVs and need to charge prior to returning the car to the airport to avoid fees. There usually aren’t convenient charging stations by the airport, so a driver needs to increase the maximum charge percentage on the vehicle before driving to the airport. If you’re staying, say, half an hour from the airport you might need to charge to 90% in order to return the vehicle at 75%. (EV drivers usually charge their cars to around 80%, 90% when making long trips, but the higher the regular charge the more degradation of the life of the battery – one more reason not to buy a used EV from a rental agency.)