There are times that one wonders what sort of substances advertising executives were imbibing when they came up with a campaign. Today I had one of those moments: Hyundai in the UK have decided to set up a luxury hotel powered exclusively by electric vehicles.
‘Hotel Hyundai’ is a pop-up hotel comprising of an off-grid cabin, restaurant and private cinema, all powered from Ioniq 5 vehicles via their V2L function.
V2L, by the way, stands for ‘Vehicle to Load’, meaning the main inbuilt AC to DC converter in the car (normally used to convert household power to the DC needed to charge the battery) can reverse its operation and provide AC power back out again.
For the Ioniq 5, the V2L system can provide up to 15A – more than enough to run a typical campsite (or in this case, ‘glampsite’). For more information on the capabilities of V2L – see my article here.
The guest suite is gushingly described by Hyundai as “offering everything guests can expect from a luxury boutique hotel”. The restaurant is described as “an indoor-outdoor dining with cooking over a fire and the bar and restaurant area offering a coffee lounge, with expertly prepared espresso … all powered by the car.”
As for the cinema: “Guests are invited to enjoy a film from a car-powered projector and speakers, with a V2L powered popcorn machine for the true cinema experience.”
Hotel Hyundai is currently situated in the Essex countryside (in the UK) and will be open for three weeks from mid-October to early November. It is available for bookings, and is also offering the public the chance to win a stay that will include welcome cocktails, a three-course meal, evening film and breakfast hamper.
It seems that Hyundai hope to run their pop-up hotel at different times and in different places: perhaps they could open one near Canberra and invite a few of our more EV sceptical federal politicians? I am sure they would enjoy an exclusive, EV powered introduction to the new world of possibilities that EVs offer for improving a Long Weekend trip away.
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.
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