At the recent Shareholders meeting, a shareholder who self identified as Eric Gross asked Elon whether Tesla had a program to develop charging in the "hospitality industry". Elon responded that they had worked with a few hotels and that since it was overnight they didn't need a supercharger just a 240 line and Tesla should probably do more with this.
This brief exchange didn't stand out very much to me at the time but later in the day it began to seem like a very good idea.
Supercharger stations are intended just for waypoints along major highways. That's a brilliant constraint since it tackles the main issue of freedom to travel but doesn't swamp the system with local commuters or require a vast infrastructure to make a difference.
The Tesla IT system will be able to integrate new superchargers as they come online and direct drivers to closest options.
As Elon mentioned in an earlier answer about why the SC stations aren't expensive to operate, the rent is very low or free because the owner of the rest area is being handed a stream of new upscale customers.
These points potentially make paying for a standard 240 volt charging infrastructure a very attractive proposition to hotels. The upfront capital cost to create a few parking spots with Tesla chargers is quite minimal. If Tesla offerred a program to hotels (probably in conjunction with Solar City in states where it operates) to put them on the map along with the Supercharger stations so a Tesla driver could query his car nav and make a hotel reservation with a guaranteed reserved charging spot, the hotels would have a strong incentive to sign on given the minimal investment.
Operating costs to hotels would be directly proportionate to new business, and the value of renting the room for the night would significantly exceed the marginal cost of the electricity for charging. Tesla owners are a perfect match for upscale hotel chains that already struggle to distinguish themselves with amenities.
Unlike Superchargers, hotel charging could be located anywhere and could be operational very quickly since they wouldn't require the solar aspect or special equipment. To be consistent the Tesla contract could require some kind of sustainable power offset...and encourage (and note in the IT system) the construction of solar canopies to go with the charging stations. Also consistent with the Supercharger network the hotel chargers would have to be free to guests.
Hotels could display the Tesla charger logo and would be put on the map and nav system. By 2015 when the US and Canada are covered with a network of hundreds of Superchargers allowing rapid recharge at waypoints throughout the highway system, there could be a complimentary system of thousands of hotel charger locations on the same map.
Other than internal costs to develop the websites, write the contracts and such it would cost Tesla nothing either in upfront capital or operating expense.
A hotel based charging infrastructure suppliments the Supercharger network neatly. Most Superchargers will be away from markets with major hotels. People on roadtrips won't have many overnight charging alternatives so would otherwise unnecessarily rely on the Superchargers when they could be doing ordinary slow charging overnight.
This brief exchange didn't stand out very much to me at the time but later in the day it began to seem like a very good idea.
Supercharger stations are intended just for waypoints along major highways. That's a brilliant constraint since it tackles the main issue of freedom to travel but doesn't swamp the system with local commuters or require a vast infrastructure to make a difference.
The Tesla IT system will be able to integrate new superchargers as they come online and direct drivers to closest options.
As Elon mentioned in an earlier answer about why the SC stations aren't expensive to operate, the rent is very low or free because the owner of the rest area is being handed a stream of new upscale customers.
These points potentially make paying for a standard 240 volt charging infrastructure a very attractive proposition to hotels. The upfront capital cost to create a few parking spots with Tesla chargers is quite minimal. If Tesla offerred a program to hotels (probably in conjunction with Solar City in states where it operates) to put them on the map along with the Supercharger stations so a Tesla driver could query his car nav and make a hotel reservation with a guaranteed reserved charging spot, the hotels would have a strong incentive to sign on given the minimal investment.
Operating costs to hotels would be directly proportionate to new business, and the value of renting the room for the night would significantly exceed the marginal cost of the electricity for charging. Tesla owners are a perfect match for upscale hotel chains that already struggle to distinguish themselves with amenities.
Unlike Superchargers, hotel charging could be located anywhere and could be operational very quickly since they wouldn't require the solar aspect or special equipment. To be consistent the Tesla contract could require some kind of sustainable power offset...and encourage (and note in the IT system) the construction of solar canopies to go with the charging stations. Also consistent with the Supercharger network the hotel chargers would have to be free to guests.
Hotels could display the Tesla charger logo and would be put on the map and nav system. By 2015 when the US and Canada are covered with a network of hundreds of Superchargers allowing rapid recharge at waypoints throughout the highway system, there could be a complimentary system of thousands of hotel charger locations on the same map.
Other than internal costs to develop the websites, write the contracts and such it would cost Tesla nothing either in upfront capital or operating expense.
A hotel based charging infrastructure suppliments the Supercharger network neatly. Most Superchargers will be away from markets with major hotels. People on roadtrips won't have many overnight charging alternatives so would otherwise unnecessarily rely on the Superchargers when they could be doing ordinary slow charging overnight.
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