Letter to Hotel Chains

[Liz G]

Ok. Having had the enjoyment of arranging charging at my various destinations, I've decided to send letters to all the hotel chains out there encouraging them to install chargers. I've started a draft letter and would appreciate input from other member of this forum on the crafting of this letter. Please read the letter below and add you comments. I will update the letter of the course of this week, with the hopes of having it ready to send at the end of the week.


Dear Hotel Proprietor,

Electric Vehicles (EV's) are coming and they are taking the form of the Tesla Model S (and future models).

You may or may not be aware of this but there are more than 13,000 Model S's on the road today in the U.S. With Tesla producing over 500 cars a week. This will equate to more than 20,000 new Tesla’s on the road each year. To support this fleet of vehicles, Tesla is building out its own charging network specifically for the Model S (and future models). This charging network will allow owners to recharge their cars in about 45 min opening up easy long distance travel.

In less than 2 years this charging network will span the entire U.S. Since access and use of the Tesla charging network is free for owners, they will literally be able to travel cost to cost for free. This will result in an increase in traveling and vacationing by Model S owners as they rediscover the "road trip". I know I will be utilizing the charging network to explore America. In fact, many of us are already traveling the U.S. utilizing RV campgrounds for charging as they have Nema 14-50 outlets. I, myself, have already traveled from St. Louis to Denver and back and from St. Louis to Norway, MI (Upper Michigan) and back.

However, the charging network is primarily set up to facilitate long distance travel. Therefore, Model S owners will still need a place to charge once they arrive at their destination. Hotels that offer charging are popular with Model S owners, though rare. Good places to stay and/or charge are communicated between Tesla owners on various Tesla group forums and once a place is identified multiple owners will utilize it.

With this in mind, I highly suggest you consider offering charging at your hotels, preferably providing at least 2 charging stations at each of your hotels (either J1772 70 amp public charging stations or NEMA 14-50 50 amp outlets), with the ability to add more at popular destinations. Hotel chains that put in chargers at their locations across the U.S. will likely see an increase and repeat business from Tesla owners. Also, I would ask that you mark these spaces as EV only. Since they will be the only way for Model S owners to charge.

If install charging at your hotels please post this information prominently on your website and on the charging apps such as Plugshare.

Thank you for your time.
Liz Gattra
Model S owner

 

[Doug_G]

"The EV's are coming"

Some proprietors may not know what an "EV" is. Recommend changing "The EV's" to "Electric cars".

You might want to edit it down to the absolute essentials, to try and improve the chances that they'll read the whole thing.

 

[Liz G]

"The EV's are coming"

Some proprietors may not know what an "EV" is. Recommend changing "The EV's" to "Electric cars".

You might want to edit it down to the absolute essentials, to try and improve the chances that they'll read the whole thing.

Thanks. Made a couple of updates.

 

[Lifeguard(ret.)]

Good idea & good luck with it. You might want to put Intercontinental Hotels on the top of your recipient list since they advertise on the TMC website. Here's a copy of my earlier post to a FL sub-forum on hotels in FL with chargers.

Very ironic that a pop-up add for Intercontinental Hotels shows up periodically on the banner of the TMC Forum. The Intercontinental in Tampa doesn't have any charging capability. When I inquired/suggested to their facilities manager that they provide some (I was hoping in time for my first planned road trip in October for a meeting at One Urban Center where the hotel is) the reply was not particularly encouraging. "We've talked about it, but don't own our garage" End of story.

Maybe whoever handles advertising for the TMC site could contact Intercontinental Hotels corporate office & let them know that their ad dollars would be more effective on their target audience on the TMC Forum if they had EV chargers in their hotels. :smile:

 

[efusco]

I would point out something about the relatively small cost for electricity (perhaps with an estimate) as the margin will always be a concern for any business.

 

[TexasEV]

Great idea. I agree with editing it down to the essentials though, such as removing your personal travel experience. One thing to add is there is a tax credit for businesses to install electric vehicle charging equipment of 30% of the cost, up to a credit of $30,000, which expires on Dec. 31, 2013. So if they're thinking about accommodating Teslas, this is the year to do it.

The cost of installing a NEMA 14-50 is much less than a J1772-- no equipment to buy or maintain, it's just an electrical outlet. It should be an easier sell that idea to hotels. As I said on another thread on this topic, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

 

[stevezzzz]

Nice work, Liz. My two cents:

- cut it down ruthlessly to less than half the current length.
- Change "With this in mind, I highly suggest you consider offering charging at your hotels..." to "With this in mind, I urge you to consider offering charging at your hotels..." [without the italics, of course]

 

[toto_48313]

Good idea. I know that Best Western in Canada are having a lot of charging statioon installed this summer... that's a start.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Nice work, Liz. My two cents:

- cut it down ruthlessly to less than half the current length.
- Change "With this in mind, I highly suggest you consider offering charging at your hotels..." to "With this in mind, I urge you to consider offering charging at your hotels..." [without the italics, of course]

Urge => encourage. To me that would read a bit less Liz Loony.

 

[Zapped]

Good idea. I know that Best Western in Canada are having a lot of charging statioon installed this summer... that's a start.

Yes, and look at what Sun Country has done to advertize this and promo the Hotel chain.
EV Trip Planner | Sun Country Highway

(BTW, I don't work for Sun Country)

 

[PhilBa]

I hate to be a nay sayer but I don't think this letter will gain the desired effect. It focuses too much on what should be done and not enough on why and how. Business men make decisions to spend money if there is a return on their investment. You have to show them the ROI.

I would focus on what's in it for them. Some thing like this.

• The Tesla Model S Sedan average selling price is $90K (my guess, real numbers needed).
• The typical owner is a professional with high income.
• The typical owner travels frequently.
• The typical owner is an early adopter and trendsetter.
• The typical owner is connected to other Tesla owners (via this forum and other ways).
• The typical owner is a highly desirable customer and is much less likely to stay in their hotels if a charger is not available

Thus, this is a group they want to cultivate.

In addition, I would spend some time explaining the likely cost of installing 2 NEMA 15-50 connectors. You might also pencil out for them the cost of a typical charge ($7 is my guess). This will give them a sense of the costs involved to attract these desirable customers.

You might also mention that this allows them to claim they are environmentally friendly. After all, they do that to get you to reuse your towels.

I would keep a shortened version of "the EVs are coming" to complete the picture.

They should be able to read the whole letter in 3-5 minutes or less.

 

[swaltner]

they will literally be able to travel cost to cost for free

...coast to coast...

 

[Cosmacelf]

Point out that this is a potential revenue source, they can charge an EV fee to recoup electrical and infrastructure expense. They don't have to give up parking spots per se, just ask ev owners to reserve, and an orange cone can be put in the spot. 70a j1772 is too specific and isn't required, any J1772 will do for overnight charging.

Btw, do all electricians have more work than they can handle? Cause this is a great business opportunity for them to electrify their town...

 

[Iz]

You may also want to note there are Roadsters and Model X/Gen III will be here in a few years. Also, Leaf and Volt owners would benefit as well.

 

[JohnQ]

I hate to be a nay sayer but I don't think this letter will gain the desired effect. It focuses too much on what should be done and not enough on why and how. Business men make decisions to spend money if there is a return on their investment. You have to show them the ROI.

I would focus on what's in it for them. Some thing like this.

• The Tesla Model S Sedan average selling price is $90K (my guess, real numbers needed).
• The typical owner is a professional with high income.
• The typical owner travels frequently.
• The typical owner is an early adopter and trendsetter.
• The typical owner is connected to other Tesla owners (via this forum and other ways).
• The typical owner is a highly desirable customer and is much less likely to stay in their hotels if a charger is not available

Thus, this is a group they want to cultivate.

In addition, I would spend some time explaining the likely cost of installing 2 NEMA 15-50 connectors. You might also pencil out for them the cost of a typical charge ($7 is my guess). This will give them a sense of the costs involved to attract these desirable customers.

You might also mention that this allows them to claim they are environmentally friendly. After all, they do that to get you to reuse your towels.

I would keep a shortened version of "the EVs are coming" to complete the picture.

They should be able to read the whole letter in 3-5 minutes or less.

+1 on this. One addition, point them somewhere for more information. I don't know if there are websites that address business owners and why they should add infrastructure (beyond Chargepoint, Blink, or other networks). The recipient might buy into the argument but then say "what do I do next?"

 

[Vexar]

Liz,
Whatever you do, could you also send a letter to the Hilton Milwaukee? They are LEED certified and need a little more pressure, I think. I didn't get anywhere with them in my letter.

 

[ChadS]

One addition, point them somewhere for more information.

I agree that the first letter should focus on ROI to get them interested. And once they are interested, they need to know where to go.

There are a number of EVSE installation guides, but most of them are from EVSE manufacturers and focus on their offerings. Plug In America put one together HERE that starts from the viewpoint of the site host, and walks them through all the steps they need to do, starting with their business model.

 

[hikerockies]

Would it help to also include a pointer to http://www.ahla.com/Green.aspx?id=34385 since this is an article from American Hotel and Lodging Association?

 

[dhrivnak]

I would also mention there are more than 90,000 Nissan Leaf's and Chevy Volts on the road. They can pull from far more than just Tesla owners and most Leaf/Volt owners are also above average demographics.

 

[efusco]

An open letter this green hotels assn might be worth while. As well as other hotel/hospitality magazines.
Hotels Association