Where are the best places around the world to stay with an electric car?

Airbnb recently announced that more than 850,000 of their hosts now offer electric car charging capabilities. This announcement highlights the continued growth and adaptation of destinations to cater for electric car drivers across the world.

For hotel owners and brands, installing electric car chargers provides an additional way to attract customers. This shift in available facilities gives us a glimpse into what the future of hospitality might look like – with a greater focus around the eco-conscious customer.

To help electric vehicle owners plan their holidays and staycations, we’ve compiled data for the most populated cities around the world with the highest number of EV-friendly Airbnbs and hotels. Data has been gathered using both Airbnb and Booking.com’s electric car charging filters. Here’s what we found.

Where’s the best place to stay with an electric car in the UK?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, London ranks number one out of the 50 most populated cities in the UK. The capital far exceeds the rest of the top 10, with more than 700 Airbnbs with electric car charging facilities. In addition, there are 165 hotels offering charging facilities – the city is in a league of its own.

Coastal areas within the UK also appear to be popular for Airbnb and hotels with electric car chargers. Bournemouth and Southend-on-Sea both rank in the top 5 of the study.

Bournemouth and Southend-on-Sea are only second to Doncaster when looking at the cities with the most Airbnbs with charging points per 100,000 people. Combined, they offer 292 electric car friendly places to stay.

The UK cities with the highest number of EV-friendly places to stay per 100,000 people

For those interested in the potential availability of stays, we analysed which cities performed best based on the number of stays per 100,000 people within the city. 

Doncaster ranks top, with 173.2 EV-friendly places to stay per 100,000 people. Despite offering only three hotels with charge points, the city is best prepared for welcoming visitors with an electric car. Doncaster plays host to a variety of attractions, such as Conisbrough Castle and the ever-popular Doncaster racecourse, leaving you with plenty to do on your visit.

Where’s the best place to stay with an electric car in Europe?

Road trips are a huge hit with holidaymakers and for good reason. But with fewer EV charging points globally than petrol and diesel garages, we need to pay more attention to how EV drivers are going to refuel whilst on the move.

To help with this, apps such as Google Maps, Zapmap and Chargermap allow you to view charging stations, helping to avoid ‘range anxiety’ when planning your trip should you need a little top up. You can find our list of the top 10 most useful apps for electric car owners here.

However, if your destination offers EV charging, this could play a key factor in your decision marking. Knowing when you return home each day you can charge your vehicle overnight would surely put your mind at ease.

Our study found that London also topped the European leaderboard. Offering the highest number of Airbnbs and hotels with electric car charging capabilities at 879 – more than any other European city studied.

If Airbnbs are your preference for a road trip, but London isn’t on the cards, look no further than Istanbul or Paris. Each city offers 624 and 549 EV-friendly Airbnbs respectively. Popular tourist cities of Rome and Amsterdam round off the top five, both offering a high number of hotels with charge points at 207 and 165. Just imagine that roadtrip!

The European cities with the highest number of EV-friendly places to stay per 100,000 people

Perhaps surprisingly, Split in Croatia ranked top in our European study when comparing EV-friendly places to stay per 100,000 people. Even with a small population, it offers a healthy number of EV-friendly places to stay. 

Split has more than 142 EV-friendly places to stay per 100,000 people allowing motorists the chance to freely pick accommodation with charge points.

The eco-conscious, forward-thinking city of Amsterdam ranked second in the study for EV-friendly places to stay per 100,000 people. With more than 500 Airbnbs to choose from, you will be spoilt for choice. 

Where’s the best place to stay with an electric car in the U.S.?

U.S. road trips are some of the most popular holidays chosen by tourists across the world. Whether it’s taking on the famous Route 66 or finding a quieter byway to really test out your car’s capabilities, the U.S. attracts plenty.

To help drivers that are looking to venture around the U.S., we found the best states to stay in with an electric car.

California ranks first in our study, offering more than 750 Airbnbs and 991 hotels for holidaymakers to charge their EVs whilst staying. Florida and Georgia follow in second and third place with more than 1,600 Airbnbs between them.

The U.S. states with the highest number of EV-friendly places to stay per 100,000 people

Given the vast size of America, it’s no surprise that states such as California rank top. Therefore, as a fair comparison we looked at the states that ranked best per 100,000 people.

Vermont, with 85.4 places to stay per 100,000 people topped the list – double the number of stays than second placed Hawaii. Oregon rounds off the top three with an impressive 887 Airbnbs and 148 hotels. However, due to its population size, it offers only 24 stays per 100,000 people. 

So whether you’re looking for that dream driving holiday abroad, or you’re sticking to your country’s own offerings, there are plenty of destinations giving EV-owners a convenient place to charge their car. Let’s hope that more Airbnb and hotel owners around the world get on board as the number of EV owners is expected to increase rapidly.

For more information on our study, please get in touch with hello@elmodrive.com. 

FAQs

Methodology

We took the most populated UK cities, U.S states and the two most populated cities from the top populated European countries to find the number of Airbnb and Booking.com listings with EV chargers. 

To provide more accurate results, we worked out the number of chargers per 100,000 people. Russia and Ukraine were removed from the study due to Airbnb closing their listings in light of the current news.

Data was collected on 21/07/2022

Notes

Data available on request.