Drax offers hotels a £10,000 prize to set up electric vehicle charging

Yorkshire-based Drax Electric Vehicles is offering all Energy & Environment Alliance’s (EEA) members the chance to win up to £10,000 for the supply and installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at a hotel property in the UK. Drax will also provide the first three years of service, software, and maintenance (value of £1,000), free of charge.

The competition aims to help showcase how an EV charging station can attract valuable new business to a hotel and how it can significantly reduce the property’s carbon footprint.

As ownership of electric cars continues to grow, ensuring hospitality businesses have the right infrastructure to attract customers will be vital for the industry’s future success. Research from Drax found that if businesses want to keep up with the rapidly growing EV market, at least one in every 10 parking spaces should be an EV charge point, with that number increasing to one in five over the next five years.

Ufi Ibrahim, CEO, EEA, said: “Thanks to EEA’s strategic partner Drax, this is a great opportunity for one of our members to add an attractive customer amenity, EV charging, with low risk and low cost.

“The number of electric car owners in the UK has grown exponentially from 1 per cent of new vehicles registered in 2015, to 18.6 per cent last year (SMMT, July 2022). So, I am confident that it won’t be long before EV charging will become a need to have rather than a nice to have”.

Paul George, commercial manager, Drax EV Charging & Infrastructure, said: “The idea of the competition is to show hotel owners the benefits of installing an EV charging station at their property.

“Customers are likely to spend more during their visit if drivers are there for longer, charging their vehicles. Combining this additional spend with any profits made for charging makes it easy to see the business benefits and return on investment.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily