In a summer update from lodging rental marketplace Airbnb, customers can now search for accommodations that include an EV charger in their stay. Airbnb made the search addition after years of EV drivers requesting the option.
Airbnb is an American company that offers people easy access to a global market of rental accommodations, including shared spaces, vacation rentals, and even local tourism activities.
Since debuting in 2008, the platform has become a go-to for many travelers looking to stay in cozier spaces as opposed to hotel rooms.
While EV charging hasn’t been a main focus of Airbnb, it remains no stranger to the industry. In 2015, the company announced a partnership with Tesla to install wall chargers in certain hosts’ homes.
A year later, Airbnb took a similar approach to the EV chargers, but with solar panels instead, teaming up with SolarCity.
Dating back beyond 2018, there have been dozens of posts in the Airbnb community forums asking why an EV charger is not yet a searchable filter on the platform. The lodging app has finally listened and has added EV chargers as an amenity to ease the search process for EV drivers.
Airbnb introduces the EV charger as a search filter for your stay
Last May, Airbnb released a YouTube video featuring CEO Brian Chesky that introduced over 100 news updates to its platform. This included flexible matching, easier host descriptions, and a new EV charger amenity.
Traveling EV drivers, rejoice! You can now more easily find a stay that works for both you and your electric vehicle.
Here’s how to find an Airbnb with an EV charger
- Visit Airbnb’s website or open the app on your smartphone.
You will need to create an account and login in order to book any accommodations that suit you and your EV for your stay.
- Input your search criteria.
This includes location, dates of stay and number of guests.
After you search, you’ll see an initial list of possible matches for your given dates. - From here, you can narrow your search further.
This includes featured options in the toolbar such as “cancellation flexibility,” “type of place,” “instant book,” etc.
- Tap or click “More filters.”
From here, you can select a number of additional filters to find the exact accommodations and amenities you’re looking for. This includes options such as number of beds or bathrooms, whether the owner is a “Superhost,” or whether the place has A/C.
- Scroll to the “Facilities” section, then tap or click “Show all facilities.”
From there, you will see the EV Charger as a checkable box to filter your search.
- Select the “EV charger” box
Boom! See what sort of options pop up.
Unfortunately, that’s as granular as the EV filter gets on the current Airbnb platform, so from your search, you won’t know what type of EV charger is present on the property.
That being said, you can select a property with a charger that looks promising and see if the host lists what type of charger it is in their description or if they provided any photos of it in the Airbnb gallery.
Worst case scenario, you can contact the host direct through Airbnb and see what type of EV charger they have available.
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