From Super Bowl commercials to all-electric delivery vans to legislation in Washington D.C., battery-electric vehicles are quickly becoming a staple of American life.
Now Airbnb, the popular service used for booking stays in privately owned homes, is promoting its special filter on its website so EV owners can find rentals, offering access EV charging, which is vital to the growth of electric vehicles.
Airbnb, which is based in San Francisco, also is encouraging its “hosts” to install EV chargers and now has 850,000 listings now feature an EV charger as an amenity for modern travelers.
Charging has been identified by auto executives, analysts and political figures, starting with President Joe Biden, as critical to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
A draw for potential guests
Airbnb’s trying to get ahead of the EV demand curve. The company recently made more than 150 upgrades to its services, including the EV charging filter to meet guests’ need for even more flexibility when planning their travel.
The number of searches by guests for EV chargers — among the new updates rolled out last year — doubled between June and December of last year, totaling more than half a million unique searches by year end, Airbnb said. It is actively encouraging host to install EV chargers on their property.
Since EV sales jumped 83% in 2021 and a similar rise is expected this year, the increase in searches for charger-equipped homes isn’t a big surprise.
Part of company’s commitment to fighting climate change
Along with powering the EV era, Airbnb noted it is already encouraging sustainable travel by promoting what it describes as hosts use existing infrastructure — their homes — to welcome guests.
In addition, surveys commissioned by the company show that more than 80% of the consumers in the United States believe Airbnb helps people travel in a more environmentally sustainable way. “Enabling guests to search for listings with EV chargers is just one way we are supporting this,” the company said in a release.
Airbnb also says it is committed to operating as a Net Zero company by reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions associated with its global corporate operations. It’s also investing in “quality nature-based solutions to offset residual emissions.”
“Guests can now take more frequent trips, longer trips, travel to more locations, and even live anywhere with their electric vehicles on Airbnb, while 20% of our nights booked between July and September in 2021 were for stays of a month or longer, and nearly half were for stays of at least a week,” according to the company.