Hotels are plug-in infrastructure

Road-tripping with your plug-in car is getting a little easier. Element, an eco-friendly hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, installed an electric car charging station at its flagship property in Lexington, Mass..

The station is part of the ChargePoint Network, which has 140 other charging stations worldwide, including one at a McDonald’s in Cary, N.C.

It is not the first hotel to offer plug-ins for electric cars. Hyatt installed Tesla charging stations at three of its California hotels in 2007.

But what sets the ChargePoint stations apart are its Web-ready features. For example, drivers can find the nearest ChargePoint station — and see whether it’s occupied — with a smart phone. Drivers can also be notified via a text message or email once charging, which takes between three and four hours, has been completed.

Element plans to install chargers at its other hotels. It currently has four hotels (in Massachusetts, Texas, Nevada and Maryland), with new locations in New Jersey and Colorado scheduled to open later this year.

Source : The New York Times, by Hilary Howard, August 5th, 2009