Express EV charging now available at Holiday Inn Express
Electric vehicle owners can now pre-book ‘Express’ charging following an agreement between online parking portal YourParkingSpace.co.uk and Atlas Hotels.
It is one of the first times that pre-bookable charge points have been made available for motorists in the UK to use, guaranteeing availability, and is being piloted at the newly built Holiday Inn Express Bicester. Five charge points were installed as part of the pilot.
Building on the initiative, YourParkingSpace.co.uk plans to install a further 250 charge points over the next 12 months at properties operated by Atlas Hotels, the largest franchisee of Holiday Inn Express hotels in the UK.
The charge points will be available for hotel guests along with all other EV owners to pre-book, a market which is growing rapidly. In fact, according to data from The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) sales of battery electric vehicles have grown by 165 per cent from 2019 to 2020 year-to-date, rising from 25,097 to 66,611.
Initially bookable via the GeniePoint app, the charge points will become pre-bookable alongside parking via the YourParkingSpace website and app.
Says Harrison Woods, managing director at YourParkingSpace.co.uk:
“This is a great leap forward for the ever-increasing number of EV owners. Over the next 12 months we plan to open up a multitude of UK locations, with Atlas Hotels at the forefront of the roll-out, where EV drivers will be able to pre-book charging for their vehicle, removing the stress of otherwise finding and waiting for a charge point that is being used by another motorist to become available.”
For hotel guests it makes it easier to charge their vehicle at the hotel they are staying at, potentially meaning avoiding having to stop and charge while on the go.
Adds Martin Coombes, Operations and Product Director at Atlas Hotels:
“We’re very excited about this initiative. The experience for our customers begins at the start of their journey. The roll-out of electric charge points will help to eliminate both range anxiety for our EV drivers and the inconvenience of having to stop to charge either before or after their hotel stay.
For more information about YourParkingSpace.co.uk, which also lists over 250,000 hourly, daily and monthly parking spaces to pre-book, visit www.yourparkingspace.co.uk.
