Marriott Waikiki Beach Hotel Gets EV Commercial Charging Station

Sustainable tourism promoters have yet another reason to choose Hawaii as their destination, as the efforts of establishing an EV charging infrastructure seem to be on the right track.

AeroVironment installed today the first electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the Marriott Waikiki to serve hotel guests.

This could soon become a mandatory feature in all major hotels, as recent studies have proven that travelers are paying a great deal of attention to eco-friendly factors when making travel plans. Eco-friendly vacations now include the availability of electric rental cars.

“Marriott is excited about the advancements in green travel options and we want to support our guests who are making electric vehicle choices,” said Rob Bahl, Marriott’s vice president of engineering and facilities for the Americas. “Adding EV charging stations is just one of Marriott’s initiatives supporting our ‘Spirit To Preserve’ environmental efforts.”

The company also intends to install additional charging stations at Outrigger’s OHANA Waikiki East, Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk and Wailea Beach Marriott on Maui.

“Our work with partners such as Marriott and Outrigger, both leaders in the sustainability movement, demonstrates our commitment to helping Hawaii build the foundation for a cleaner transportation future. With products and services that satisfy all EV charging needs we look forward to working with the state, businesses and individuals to expand that foundation throughout Hawaii,” said Kristen Helsel, vice president of EV Solutions at AeroVironment.

The charging infrastructure initiative helps to comply with a new state law requiring that a portion of all publicly available parking lots of a certain size become EV-ready. The deadline for EV readiness is midnight, December 31, 2011.

AeroVironment provides electric vehicle charging stations and installation services for Nissan North America’s Nissan LEAF, BMW’s ActiveE, NRG Energy’s eVgo network, and for the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Washington Department of Transportation as part of the “Green Highway” initiative.