20000 new Tesla chargers at Hilton

[Supcom]

What do hotels do if the number of EVs exceeds the number of chargers? I'm sure this must have happened somewhere. Is there some policy that ensures everyone gets to charge to a certain minimum level?

Everywhere that I have been, it's just first come, first served.

Always have a plan B in case the equipment is broken or in use, especially if you expect to arrive late. If your need for a hotel charger is critical, then call ahead to make sure of their availability and possibly reserve a space. EV charging spaces at hotels are often ICE'd if the hotel is full.

 

[David99]

What do hotels do if the number of EVs exceeds the number of chargers? I'm sure this must have happened somewhere. Is there some policy that ensures everyone gets to charge to a certain minimum level?

I've had this happen many times when I stayed at hotels. The short answer is they don't care at all. They do not want to bother guests in their rooms and asking them to move their car.

You can leave your cell phone number on a paper in your car so someone can call you if they need a charge while you are already there. But honestly, the times I stayed at hotels with chargers, I needed the charge.

 

[tivoboy]

Honestly, if these locations have any sense they’d put the chargers a bit more spread out, with 24’ cables on them so one car could park right in from of a DC, then two cars on the side could easily be plugged in from the same charger. At that point, one could easily give a key card to a front desk mgr, or I think there might be some setting that could allow the charge port to be opened with the wand. I think Valet mode enable that.

I’ve had locations with Tesla DC, where the Valet parks the cars of course AND moves them to chargers if the customer requests. So, when one is done, they move it and put in another car that needs it. That’s a bit much to expect from most Hilton locations though.

 

[dakhlkt22]

Honestly, if these locations have any sense they’d put the chargers a bit more spread out, with 24’ cables on them so one car could park right in from of a DC, then two cars on the side could easily be plugged in from the same charger. At that point, one could easily give a key card to a front desk mgr, or I think there might be some setting that could allow the charge port to be opened with the wand. I think Valet mode enable that.

I’ve had locations with Tesla DC, where the Valet parks the cars of course AND moves them to chargers if the customer requests. So, when one is done, they move it and put in another car that needs it. That’s a bit much to expect from most Hilton locations though.

Yeah, 24/7 valet-arranged charging seems ideal. For DIY parking lots, it seems like they could label the EV charging spots "valet parking for EV charging only - violators subject to towing" with owners who park and charge being instructed to leave their keys with the front desk. In most cases, the charging might be entirely DIY. But a parking attendant could help sort out charging when demand is high. The hotels would delivery a better experience to their customers that way.

 

[Earl]

What do hotels do if the number of EVs exceeds the number of chargers? I'm sure this must have happened somewhere. Is there some policy that ensures everyone gets to charge to a certain minimum level?

Today, its generally (Always, in my experience) 1st come 1st served. If the stations are full, you find some other way to charge or wait until they are available.

 

[rstx]

What do hotels do if the number of EVs exceeds the number of chargers? I'm sure this must have happened somewhere. Is there some policy that ensures everyone gets to charge to a certain minimum level?

yeah there is not a great solution other than charging a high kwh rate with idle fees. Then you get to move your car at 3am? The EVSE at the hotel was free for guests which is great if you can get it. But even with 2 Tesla supercharger sites within a mile, if its free ppl just plug in all night . This hotel evse was only able to provide 24 amps. So cars have to stay on the charger twice as long as well.

 

[Supcom]

yeah there is not a great solution other than charging a high kwh rate with idle fees. Then you get to move your car at 3am? The EVSE at the hotel was free for guests which is great if you can get it. But even with 2 Tesla supercharger sites within a mile, if its free ppl just plug in all night . This hotel evse was only able to provide 24 amps. So cars have to stay on the charger twice as long as well.

If I was going to have to get up at 3AM to disconnect a full car from a charger, I'd simply set the car to limit charging so that it takes all night to complete.

 

[rstx]

If I was going to have to get up at 3AM to disconnect a full car from a charger, I'd simply set the car to limit charging so that it takes all night to complete.

yeah its a mess really because you cant really do time limits easily either. My car will unlock the charge port when charging is complete but there wont be any open parking spaces close enough for someone else to take over the charger. At least not without a extension cable etc. Hopefully with more DC chargers supposedly coming it will help resolve it.

Unfortunately the new EA charging location in DFW is being built .5 miles from the only Tesla SuperCharger MagicDock (16 stall) site in the state. Just doesnt make any sense.

 

[David99]

Honestly, if these locations have any sense they’d put the chargers a bit more spread out, with 24’ cables on them so one car could park right in from of a DC, then two cars on the side could easily be plugged in from the same charger. At that point, one could easily give a key card to a front desk mgr, or I think there might be some setting that could allow the charge port to be opened with the wand. I think Valet mode enable that.

I’ve had locations with Tesla DC, where the Valet parks the cars of course AND moves them to chargers if the customer requests. So, when one is done, they move it and put in another car that needs it. That’s a bit much to expect from most Hilton locations though.

I understand that Hotels do not want to deal with the additional overhead of hand-holding each guest who wants to charge. IMHO it has to be automated and it has to cost something so people only use it when they really need it.

But frankly all the things being discussed are just bandaids. The only real solution is to have enough chargers. That is the only solution for charging, period. Example: Los Angeles Airport now has 500 charging stations. That's how you know you'll get a plug.

 

[Supcom]

Unfortunately the new EA charging location in DFW is being built .5 miles from the only Tesla SuperCharger MagicDock (16 stall) site in the state. Just doesnt make any sense.

Competition is a great thing.

 

[dakhlkt22]

I understand that Hotels do not want to deal with the additional overhead of hand-holding each guest who wants to charge. IMHO it has to be automated and it has to cost something so people only use it when they really need it.

But frankly all the things being discussed are just bandaids. The only real solution is to have enough chargers. That is the only solution for charging, period. Example: Los Angeles Airport now has 500 charging stations. That's how you know you'll get a plug.

True. Unfortunately, it seems like hotels chains are likely to only install a bare minimum of L2 chargers at each site so it will come up "EV charging available" when people do a search for hotels. Frequent travelers will quickly discover "EV charging available" doesn't mean much, and it'll take lots of consumer pushback before hotel chains start installing enough EV chargers and also enforcing EV-only access policies.

 

[Park Sloped]

I called a motel in Alabama listed as having a DC in advance of a road trip I'm taking this spring. A woman answered the phone.
"I understand you have a Destination Charger at your hotel," I said.
Long pause.
"A what?" she said.
"An electric car charger," I said.
"Oh, yeah. We got two of them. One of 'em's free and the other you gotta pay for."
"Right," I said, "The free one is for Teslas. Is it possible that I could reserve the use of it for my stay?"
"No," she said. "We can't do that. But I been in this job for three weeks and I ain't never seen anybody using 'em."

I guess I'll just have to take my chances.

 

[Earl]

I called a motel in Alabama listed as having a DC in advance of a road trip I'm taking this spring. A woman answered the phone.
"I understand you have a Destination Charger at your hotel," I said.
Long pause.
"A what?" she said.
"An electric car charger," I said.
"Oh, yeah. We got two of them. One of 'em's free and the other you gotta pay for."
"Right," I said, "The free one is for Teslas. Is it possible that I could reserve the use of it for my stay?"
"No," she said. "We can't do that. But I been in this job for three weeks and I ain't never seen anybody using 'em."

I guess I'll just have to take my chances.

I'd say this is the response I get about 50% of the time.
Good news is that I got it about 90% of the time a couple of years ago. We're definitely winning.

 

[dakhlkt22]

I called a motel in Alabama

Somehow not surprised they didn't have anyone using their chargers.

I'd be curious about areas of the country where a decent number of Californians might drive to, like Reno, Las Vegas or somewhere in AZ. That'd probably give us a better sense of where things are heading.

 

[SVMike]

Somehow not surprised they didn't have anyone using their chargers.

I'd be curious about areas of the country where a decent number of Californians might drive to, like Reno, Las Vegas or somewhere in AZ. That'd probably give us a better sense of where things are heading.

I've been to both Reno and LV. In Reno I stayed at a Marriott (Courtyard?) that had a Destination charger and a generic J1772. Dest charger was broken, but the other was available both nights I was there. I even went an unplugged at ~11pm when not yet full but in the morning no one was plugged in so the next night I left it plugged in all night. Can't say how many other hotels I could have stayed at.

In LV I stayed at a Marriott right across from the new West hall convention center- 18 months ago. Two Destination chargers and I usually found one in use both days I was there. I always charged then moved my car and put the supplied stall blocking cone back in the spot. These were the closest stalls to the back door.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I called a motel in Alabama listed as having a DC in advance of a road trip I'm taking this spring. A woman answered the phone.
"I understand you have a Destination Charger at your hotel," I said.
Long pause.
"A what?" she said.
"An electric car charger," I said.
"Oh, yeah. We got two of them. One of 'em's free and the other you gotta pay for."
"Right," I said, "The free one is for Teslas. Is it possible that I could reserve the use of it for my stay?"
"No," she said. "We can't do that. But I been in this job for three weeks and I ain't never seen anybody using 'em."

I guess I'll just have to take my chances.

You've been fooled. You thought it was sloppy speech, that was a deliberate double-negative.

(Maybe nobody uses it because it doesn't work.)

 

[dakhlkt22]

I've been to both Reno and LV. In Reno I stayed at a Marriott (Courtyard?) that had a Destination charger and a generic J1772. Dest charger was broken, but the other was available both nights I was there. I even went an unplugged at ~11pm when not yet full but in the morning no one was plugged in so the next night I left it plugged in all night. Can't say how many other hotels I could have stayed at.

Very considerate of you to unplug in case someone needed it.

Would be pretty simple for a hotel chain to have a "need to charge" board in the lobby for people to write on. Most people could probably hold off on charging if they simply knew that someone's EV was very low and needed to charge all night.

In LV I stayed at a Marriott right across from the new West hall convention center- 18 months ago. Two Destination chargers and I usually found one in use both days I was there. I always charged then moved my car and put the supplied stall blocking cone back in the spot. These were the closest stalls to the back door.

I like the blocking cone idea. Simple, not in any way binding or enforceable, and yet usually effective as most people will respect a signal like that.

 

[Earl]

I like the blocking cone idea. Simple, not in any way binding or enforceable, and yet usually effective as most people will respect a signal like that.

I carry a folding orange cone in our frunk for just such occasions. It is especially helpful when staying at a hotel for multiple nights. Most EV drivers won't hesitate to move it (they assume it is protecting a space for them) but it definitely helps with ICEing.