Airbnb gets ahead of the competition and offers 850,000 listings with electric vehicle chargers

Planning a road route for an electric vehicle takes into account the necessary charging stops along the way. But, once there at the destination, the charging situation is often more in suspense than drivers are comfortable with.

Airbnb recently announced that the company now has hundreds of thousands of listings offering electric vehicle (EV) charging capabilities. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the company reported that more than 850,000 listings included chargers among their equipment.

In a press release, the company says the growing number of chargers available in their listings is meeting demand from potential tenants. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, Airbnb had more than 500,000 unique searches for EV chargers between June and December of the same year.

The ability to search for electric vehicle charging capabilities when searching for a lodging destination is part of Airbnb’s sustainable travel mission.

Not all locations are in EV-rich areas like San Francisco or Los Angeles. A Newsweek Searching the Denver area for a one-week rental in April with the selected EV charger equipment yielded 63 options. That same search for the Seattle area returned 80 results.

Vrbo, an Airbnb competitor, does not currently offer an EV charger search filter, although individual hosts can list them in descriptions.

Online travel aggregators Expedia.com and Booking.com both have filters for electric vehicle charging when searching for hotels or vacation rentals.

According to the Marriott hotel chain, more than 3,137 EV chargers are available for use at its properties across the country.

Electric vehicle charging company Chargepoint has partnerships with Marriott, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Hyatt Regency, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and Best Western.

Public EV chargers in hotels can also be spotted on apps like PlugShare.