As part of the strategic partnership between the AA and BP Chargemaster, all 4,000 or so AA hotels and B&Bs are being offered free electric vehicle charging points.

Edmund King OBE, president of the AA and a keen advocate of electric cars, officially opened the charging point at the four-star Sandford Springs Hotel and Golf Resort

Research by the Luton-based charge point installer found 90% of EV drivers will seek out destinations that have charging points over those that don’t. Each of the hotels installed with a free charge point will be linked up to BP Chargemaster’s Polar network and will therefore be available for any EV driver to use.

Edmund King OBE, president of the AA, added: “We know that when EV drivers are looking for hotels, they will actively seek out those with charging points.”

BP Chargemaster says it will work to determine the most suitable charging point for its location, for example rapid chargers for hotels along high-traffic routes and lower capacity “destination” chargers being more suited for overnight charging.

The first hotel to benefit from the offer is Sandford Springs Hotel in Kingsclere, Hampshire, where a 50kW rapid charger has been installed.

David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster, said: “We believe that within the next five years, all hotels will offer EV charging, just like they provide Wi-Fi today.”