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Although much of rural New Hampshire is an EV fast-charging dessert, we have known for many years that the hotels, bed and breakfasts, and inns dotting the New Hampshire landscape were early adopters with regard to providing electric vehicle charging solutions to guests.
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Our most recent trip took us to the Inn at Pleasant Lake, a location our family has enjoyed visiting for decades. On this trip, we took note of the EV chargers and chatted up the young woman working the reception desk to gain some understanding of how the two chargers the Inn provides work for EV-driving guests and diners.
The Inn at Pleasant Lake is a landmark that has marked this site for over a century. You can’t walk ten feet inside its lobby without being overcome by the Currier and Ives charm the building and its decor offer. Juxtaposed with that traditional look and feel are a Chargepoint charger and a Tesla destination charger in the parking lot. They’ve been there for years and we were interested to hear how they have worked out.
Our first question was can a guest reserve a charger? Along the lines of how one might reserve a function room or an activity (like a boat, mountain bike sleigh ride, whatever). The answer was, “No, the chargers are free of charge and on a first-come first-served, but the guests seem to communicate among themselves and share the access.”
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We then asked if the Inn had considered a charger sign-in policy whereby a person signs in, agrees to use the charger until they reach 80% state of charge, and then move to another spot. “No, we have nothing like that yet, but guests do often move from the spot to open it up after they finish charging.”
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The Inn offers fine dining and a recreational area shared with a local neighborhood group. We also asked if the chargers can be used by anyone aside from Inn guests. “Yes, but we ask for a $15 fee. This helps ensure the chargers are there for our guests with EVs arriving from long distances.”
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During our stay the Inn was fully-booked. However, at no time were either of the chargers “ICED-out,” meaning occupied by non-EV vehicles. We know that nothing in this story is going to win a journalism prize. There is no clickbait title, so it may not be widely read. And the story highlights how EV resource sharing can and should work. However, with social media sites often highlighting the difficulties surrounding EV adoption in rural areas, we felt some good news was well worth the time to report.
John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American news outlets and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin
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Image by John Goreham
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