How many EV chargers does a hotel need?
For a growing share of European travellers, "Is there EV charging?" now sits right next to "Is breakfast included?". Most hotels and venues already know they need charging. The harder question is how many charge points to install, and where to start.
Install too few and guests queue, end up waiting for a free charger, leave without the charge they expected, or book elsewhere next time. Install too many on day one and you tie up budget and grid capacity in chargers that sit idle. The right number depends on who your guests are, how long they stay and how much power your site can spare. This guide walks through each of those factors for the main hotel types and for entertainment venues, so you can size your installation with confidence.
How Many EV Chargers Does a Hotel Need? The Short Answer
Most hotels should plan for charge points on 10 to 30% of their parking spaces today, depending on the type of hotel, with the cabling ready to grow towards one in two. Use the EU legal minimum as your floor, not your target:
- Existing hotels with more than 20 parking spaces: at least one recharging point per 10 spaces, or ducting for at least 50% of spaces, by 1 January 2027.
- New hotels, or hotels undergoing a major renovation, with more than 5 parking spaces: at least one recharging point per 5 spaces, pre-cabling for 50% of spaces and ducting for the rest.
Some countries go further or move faster. Belgium's regions, for example, already set their own requirements for existing non-residential car parks from 1 January 2025.
Sources: EUR-Lex, Directive (EU) 2024/1275 on the energy performance of buildings, Article 14 · PwC Legal Belgium, Update on the requirement of charging points at non-residential parking spaces in the three regions
Four Factors That Set Your Number
The right charger count comes down to four questions about your site:
- Who arrives by car? A motorway hotel may see 90% of guests drive in. A city-centre hotel near a train station may see far fewer. Count cars, not rooms.
- How long do they stay parked? Dwell time decides how many guests one charger can serve. An overnight guest occupies a charger for one session. A three-hour visitor frees it up for the next.
- How many will want to charge? Plan as if nearly every EV guest will plug in. Most EV drivers charge whenever they get the chance, even with 70% left in the battery, because it saves them a stop the next day.
- How much power can your site spare? Your grid connection is shared with kitchens, lifts, HVAC and the spa. That capacity, not the number of parking spaces, often sets the real limit.
Put the first three together and you get a simple estimate:
Charge points needed ≈ cars parked per day × share of EVs ÷ charging sessions per charge point per day
EXAMPLE: CITY HOTEL
How Many Chargers by Type of Hotel
Every hotel type has its own guest profile, so the starting point differs. The table below gives our recommended starting share for each, assuming you prepare the cabling to scale up later. For new or renovated hotels, the legal floor is already 20%, so never start below that.
Hotel type | Typical parking time | Recommended starting share of parking spaces | Main need |
|---|---|---|---|
Roadside and motorway hotels | Overnight, plus short stops | 20–30% | Overnight AC, plus fast charging for travellers on the move |
Resort, spa and leisure hotels | Several nights | 15–20% | AC for multi-night stays, extra points for day guests |
City and business hotels | One night, often fewer cars | 10–15% | Overnight AC, with a quicker option for late arrivals and early departures |
Conference and event hotels | Mix of overnight and 2–8 hours | 10%, scaled up for event days | Enough points to rotate day delegates |
Boutique hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses | One to several nights | At least 2 charge points | Reliable overnight charging, especially in rural areas |
Roadside and motorway hotels
Nearly every guest arrives by car, often after a long drive and with a low battery. They need a full charge before they leave the next morning. Plan generously for overnight AC charging. If your restaurant or café also draws passing traffic, a fast charger turns a quick stop into a meal and a coffee.
Resort, spa and leisure hotels
Guests stay for several nights, so one charge point can serve more than one guest over a stay. Day visitors to your spa, golf course or restaurant stay just a few hours, though. Give them a dedicated set of points close to the entrance, so they don't take spots needed by overnight guests.
City and business hotels
Fewer guests arrive by car, but those who do are often business travellers in a leased EV. They check in late, leave early and expect a full battery. Overnight AC covers most of them, and a well-placed faster charger handles the tight turnarounds.
Conference and event hotels
Your parking peaks on event days, when dozens of delegates arrive at once and leave in the late afternoon. Size for a normal day and scale for events by adding charge points, not by adding grid power. Load balancing shares the available capacity across all cars, and clear signage helps delegates move their car after charging.
Boutique hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses
With only a handful of parking spaces, the percentages above may round to one charger. Install at least two. In rural areas there's often no public charger nearby, so your guests depend on you, and a single faulty or occupied point means a stranded guest.
Entertainment Venues: Sizing for Peaks, not Averages
Theme parks, stadiums, concert halls and cinemas are part of hospitality too, but their parking behaves differently. Visitors arrive in waves, stay a set number of hours and often leave at the same time. That changes the maths.
Venue type | Typical parking time | What it means for charging |
|---|---|---|
Theme parks, zoos and leisure parks | 5–8 hours | One full session per charge point per day. Many AC points at moderate power cover a long visit. |
Stadiums and arenas | 3–5 hours on event days | Huge peaks, quiet days in between. Plenty of AC points sharing capacity during events. |
Concert halls, theatres and cinemas | 2–3 hours, mostly evenings | Shorter stays call for higher power per car, so visitors leave with a useful top-up. |
Casinos, bowling and leisure centres | 2–4 hours, spread through the day | Steady turnover, so each charge point can serve 2 to 3 visitors a day. |
Two things matter most for entertainment venues:
- Plan for the event, not the average day. When a stadium fills up, every charge point is in use at once. Dynamic load balancing spreads the available power over all connected cars, so you can install more charge points without upgrading your grid connection.
- Put the chargers to work between events. A car park that's busy only a few evenings a month can open its charge points to local residents, nearby businesses or fleet drivers on quiet days. That turns idle infrastructure into extra revenue. With Smappee's CPO services, you open your charge points to the public on your own terms: you set the pricing and access rules, while payments and monitoring run through one platform.
The Right Number Also Depends on the Right Mix
How many chargers you need goes hand in hand with which type you choose. AC charging suits guests who stay parked for several hours or overnight, and it lets you install more charge points within the same budget and grid capacity. DC charging adds value where stays are short. For most hotels, the sweet spot is mainly AC with load management, plus one or two DC chargers for guests in a hurry.
Want to find the right balance for your property?
Start With What You Need, Prepare for What's Next
You don't have to install every charger on day one. The smartest approach is to install what today's guests need and prepare the rest:
Install for today
Start at the recommended share for your hotel or venue type, and never below the legal minimum.
Prepare the infrastructure for tomorrow
Laying cables and ducts to extra parking spaces costs far less during the first installation than breaking open the car park later.
Measure and grow
Track how often your charge points are occupied. When they're busy most nights, it's time to add more.
Energy management makes this possible without a costly grid upgrade. Where your building's capacity is tight, Smappee Infinity balances charging dynamically against the rest of the building's consumption, and adds site-level energy insights and solar surplus charging if you have panels on the roof.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many EV chargers does a hotel need by law?
Under the EU buildings directive, existing non-residential buildings with more than 20 parking spaces need at least one recharging point per 10 spaces, or ducting for half of the spaces, by 1 January 2027. New hotels and major renovations with more than 5 spaces need one recharging point per 5 spaces. National and regional rules can be stricter.
How many EV chargers should a 100-space hotel car park have?
The legal minimum for an existing building is 10. Depending on the type of hotel, 10 to 30 charge points is a good start, with cabling prepared for more.
Is one EV charger enough for a small hotel or B&B?
No. Install at least two, so a guest can still charge when one point is occupied or out of service.
How many EV chargers does an entertainment venue need?
It depends on how long visitors stay. Venues with full-day visits, like theme parks, need one charge point per charging visitor. Venues with 2- to 4-hour visits can serve several visitors per charge point each day.
Do I need to upgrade my grid connection to add more chargers?
Not necessarily. Dynamic load balancing shares your available capacity across all connected cars, so you can add charge points without exceeding your connection.
Should a hotel install AC or DC chargers?
Mostly AC, because guests stay parked for hours. One or two DC chargers help guests with short stays. See our full AC vs DC guide for hotels.