Premium hotels add in a unique offer - EV charging stations for green travellers

• Hotels across India are now installing EV charging stations across India.
  
• 96% of Indian travelers say that sustainable travel is important to them.
  
• Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi International Airport launched an EV charging point on world EV day.
  
• The approximate cost to fully charge a 90 kilowatt electric vehicle is ₹4,000.
  

More Indians are travelling post pandemic and hotel chains are prepping for it – with many of them adopting more sustainable practices to attract the increasingly eco- conscious Gen Z and millennial travellers even as they do their bit to help cut emissions and mitigate growing climate risks.

One of the steps being taken is the installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargers in the hotel premises to promote sustainable tourism.

According to a Global Sustainable Tourism Council report, 96% of Indian travellers identified sustainable travel as important to them. Currently, India has a total of 1,640 operational public EV chargers but private companies are also helping to install EV chargers.

In Delhi, for instance, travellers staying at the Radisson Hotel Group at Mahipalpur can now charge their 2-wheeler or 4-wheeler EVs on premises. An EV charger developed by Sunfuel Electric was installed in the hotel’s premises on Friday to mark World EV Day.

This is an extension of the group’s partnership with Sunfuel last year to set up EV charging infrastructure across its portfolio of over 100 hotels in South Asia.

“There has been an increase in travel in cars since the pandemic and we are catering to that population. There is a Radisson hotel every four hours, and we are positive that this will solve range anxiety amongst EV owners. The hotel group aims to install at least four EV chargers in each hotel ranging from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” said Zubin Saxena, managing director, South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group.

Other premium chains are also encouraging electric vehicle usage by installing chargers on premises — a move that will help reduce range anxiety among tourists, particularly avid travellers exploring the length and breadth of the country in their electric vehicles.

For instance, Marriott International has partnered with ChargeZone to install 100 EV charging stations across India in June. amã Stays & Trails, a unit of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), joined hands with Tata Power in December 2021 to install 30 EV chargers across 30 destination villas in India.

Boosting EV infrastructure could go a long way in reducing carbon emissions while also helping the hotel chains meet their net-zero goals.

“Sustainable and green transportation could take away 14% of carbon reduction globally. Radisson aims to achieve net zero emission by 2050. There is a huge misconception that green infrastructure is costly. Over 95% of travellers in Asia Pacific say they want to travel sustainably. The need to promote sustainable travel is complemented with the rise of EVs, especially in India,” said Inge Huijbrechts, global senior vice president sustainability, Radisson Hotel Group.

Pay for EV charging like a metrocard

Hotel chains are trying to make sustainable travel attractive by helping to widen the electric vehicle charging infrastructure and optimising charging costs for the travellers.

For instance, Sunfuel Electric will provide OTC cards for paying for EV charging on the hotel premises. To fully charge a KIA EV car that draws 77kw of electricity, it would approximately cost ₹4,000 and take 7 hours, costing ₹2 per kilometre, claims Sunfuel.

“We already have 60 plus chargers across India and aim to install 300 chargers within the next three months. You can also recharge the OTC card like a metrocard to pay for EV charging with one tap. At Radisson, we will begin with one charger each first,” said Sudhir Nayak, co-founder of SunFuel Electric.

Having used an electric car for seven years now, actor and former pilot Gul Panag, head of partnerships at Sunfuel said, “Don't let anyone tell you climate change is irreversible. Electric vehicles are 95% efficient technology. In a city like Bombay which has the highest electricity tariff, I still end up using less energy than a two-tonne AC.”

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