Tesla & Airbnb Partner Up
Originally published on Gas2.
Interestingly, right after a couple of us in the electric vehicle community put some words in with Airbnb to enhance the consumer experience for electric vehicle drivers, it has announced a partnership with Tesla. I’m sure the partnership didn’t come about in under one week, so I’m sure it’s coincidence more than anything else, but interesting nonetheless.
The tagline for the new Airbnb & Tesla partnership is “Be free. Go far.” (As you can see.)
But, what exactly is the partnership? “Airbnb and Tesla are bringing charging stations to select homes across the globe, starting with the California coast. Together, we’re building a world with no limits to how far you can travel and how you get there. From remote deserts to lush forests, we’re unlocking highways, backroads, adventures and unique homes,” Airbnb writes.
Simple enough, eh?
At the moment, hosts need to contact Airbnb to see if they’re “eligible” to host a Tesla charger. Tesla is covering the cost of the charger, but not including the installation.
If you already have a Tesla charger at your home, Airbnb will add you to its “Tesla-ready property” list.
Hopefully this is just the first step of many Airbnb will take to improve the traveling experience for electric car owners. My simplest suggestion (after someone else in the EV community contacted Airbnb about partnering up and Cc’d me) was that Airbnb include a cute little symbol in the “Amenities” section for EV charging capability. For those of you not too familiar with Airbnb, here’s a sample view of the Amenities section for one property:
I mean, come on, there are several things on there that rank much lower than EV charging capability in an importance ranking.
Going on, I added: “That said, there’s a difference between a normal wall outlet and a dedicated EV charger, so it would probably be best to have 2 separate options there for hosts to select.”
The partnership with Tesla is a nice first step, but let’s hope Airbnb catches up with the times and includes various EV charging amenities on its site soon.
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