AA to offer electric vehicle charging points at 4,000 UK hotels

The growth in charging points is a vital component of the transition to cleaner forms of transport.

The UK Government recognises this and is investing £400 million by 2020 in the necessary infrastructure to make purchasing an electric vehicle a more viable and attractive option.

It will be of some relief to electric vehicle owners that the AA is also offering to install charging infrastructure at the 4,000 hotels it has rated across the UK, and at no cost.

The motoring organisation is working with Chargemaster to offer new charging points up and down the country. Chargemaster operates the largest public charging network in the UK, and the company was recently acquired by BP.

Edmund King, president of the AA, opened the first charging point at the Sandford Springs Hotel in Hampshire this week.

“We know that when EV drivers are looking for hotels, they will actively seek out those with charging points. We have witnessed enormous changes in both the automotive and hotel sectors over the last 110 years, and we are delighted that our AA recognised hospitality businesses can benefit from this tremendous offer,” he said.

David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster, added: “We believe that within the next five years, all hotels will offer EV charging, just like they provide Wi-Fi today. Our offer for AA hotels is a great opportunity for hotel owners and operators to get a competitive advantage with a facility that could attract hundreds of thousands of customers in the coming years.”

The number of charging points is increasing and now sits at over 17,000, a growth of 26 percent in one year. This pace needs to continue if the government is going to meet its target of at least 50 percent of new car sales to be low-emission by 2030.  

There are currently 150,000 ultra-low emission vehicles on the roads, including both hybrid technology and pure electric models.