The Most EV-Friendly Airbnb Cities around the World
A while back, we researched the best cities in Europe to hire an electric car - for short city breaks, an EV is a fantastic mode of transport. Avoid the public transport rush and save big bucks on fuel! But if you can’t find a spot to juice up the car, then the attraction certainly loses its shine!
In the Summer of 2021, Airbnb added “EV Chargers” as an amenity you could filter by on their site. Whether you’re taking your own EV or planning to hire one while you’re away, this is a game changer.
At Lease Fetcher, we wanted to help travelling EV drivers reduce their range anxiety. We’ve been hard at work to find out which cities have the most Airbnb listings with:
- EV Chargers
- Free Parking
- Paid Parking
- No Parking
We’ve also compared the number of Airbnb listings with EV chargers against the number of hotels with EV chargers to help you decide what’s your best bet.
EV Chargers: Airbnb vs Hotels
We were going to kick things off with the cities that offer the best EV charging facilities on Airbnb, but we've led with what we feel is the most eye-opening section of the story...
Airbnb offer considerably better EV charging facilities in comparison to Hotels
In what might come as a surprise to some, we found that you will be significantly worse off in a hotel than an Airbnb when it comes to EV charging facilities.
We sampled the same 60 cities we used on Airbnb but this time, on Booking.com.
On average, you’re 7.6x more likely to find an EV charger on Airbnb as opposed to a hotel on Booking.com.
We found the following stats for the likelihood of finding an EV charger on an Airbnb listing versus a hotel:
- 19x more likely in Shanghai.
- 14.7x more likely in LA.
- 13.7x more likely in London.
- A whopping 50.3x more likely in Cape Town!
Out of the 60 cities sampled, only Sevilla, Singapore and Valencia had more EV chargers at hotels in comparison to Airbnb listings.
So, if you don’t mind the lack of room service and are desperate to see the city in your EV, then an Airbnb is your best shout!
The table below highlights the gulf in EV chargers when comparing Airbnb listings to hotels on Booking.com. This table looks at the top 10 cities ordered by EV Chargers on Airbnb. You can access data for all 60 cities through our public data sheet.
EV Chargers on Airbnb vs Booking.com
| Position | City | EV Chargers on Airbnb | EV Chargers on Booking.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai | 1,234 | 65 |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 1,089 | 74 |
| 3 | London | 751 | 57 |
| 4 | Rome | 488 | 40 |
| 5 | Istanbul | 389 | 76 |
| 6 | Berlin | 373 | 61 |
| 7 | Paris | 369 | 76 |
| 8 | Amsterdam | 358 | 92 |
| 9 | Florence | 354 | 42 |
| 10 | Munich | 315 | 84 |
EV Chargers at Airbnb Locations around the World
Since EV chargers were the most recent amenity added to Airbnb's filter system, we were very intrigued to find out which cities reign supreme when it comes to offering EV chargers to Airbnb guests. Here’s what we uncovered.
Shanghai offers the most EV charging facilities on Airbnb
We tallied up all of the listings with EV chargers from 60 of the world’s most popular cities on Airbnb.
Shanghai had the most EV-friendly listings - 1,234 Airbnb’s had an EV charger listed as an amenity.
Trendy Los Angeles was second, with 1,089 listings with EV chargers. Third was London with 751 listings.
Top 10 Cities on Airbnb by EV Chargers
| Position | City | EV Chargers on Airbnb |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai | 1,234 |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 1,089 |
| 3 | London | 751 |
| 4 | Rome | 488 |
| 5 | Istanbul | 389 |
| 6 | Berlin | 373 |
| 7 | Paris | 369 |
| 8 | Amsterdam | 358 |
| 9 | Florence | 354 |
| 10 | Munich | 315 |
Parking Facilities at Airbnb Locations around the World
Now it’s all very well having access to an EV charger, but what if your car is done juicing up?
This section looks at the range of parking facilities offered by Airbnb listings for the same 60 cities.
Cape Town offers the best free parking facilities on Airbnb
Free parking is the best. Holidays can be pricey, so if you’re paying for accommodation already, you don’t want to add parking charges on top!
If you head to Cape Town, you’ll be very happy. 90.6% of their 17,306 listings offer free parking!
Nashville gets the silver medal, with free parking at 89.3% of their 6,361 listings.
Third up is San Diego, with 87.9% of their 10,302 listings advertising free parking.
You’re more likely to find free parking in a US city than any other country - 7 of the top 10 cities for free parking are US-based.
We need to give a notable mention to LA, which has 81% of listings with free parking, even with a colossal 33,765 Airbnb's!
The 10 Best Cities on Airbnb for Free Parking
| Position | City | Free Parking Spots | Total Listings | % of Free Spots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 15,677 | 17,306 | 90.6 |
| 2 | Nashville | 5,683 | 6,361 | 89.3 |
| 3 | San Diego | 9,057 | 10,302 | 87.9 |
| 4 | Portland | 3,265 | 3,735 | 87.4 |
| 5 | Austin | 9,925 | 11,375 | 87.3 |
| 6 | Denver | 3,458 | 4,099 | 84.4 |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 27,351 | 33,765 | 81 |
| 8 | Beijing | 4,134 | 5,160 | 80.1 |
| 9 | Vancouver | 3,534 | 4,547 | 77.7 |
| 10 | Seattle | 3,598 | 4,687 | 76.8 |
Only 4.4% of Tokyo’s Airbnb listings provide free parking for their guests
Apologies if you have your heart set on any of these cities and planned to drive around - these 10 cities have the fewest Airbnb listings with free parking.
Tokyo has the worst percentage of free parking spots, with a measly 4.4% of their 10,315 listings.
Second worst is Hong Kong, with a slightly better but still pretty paltry 6.3% of listings with free parking.
Paris, the City of Love, certainly doesn’t love to give you free parking - only 6.7% listings offer it.
The 10 Worst Cities on Airbnb for Free Parking
| Position | City | Free Parking Spots | Total Listings | % of Free Spots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo | 454 | 10,315 | 4.4 |
| 2 | Hong Kong* | 374 | 5,945 | 6.3 |
| 3 | Paris | 3,282 | 49,256 | 6.7 |
| 4 | Barcelona | 1,422 | 15,705 | 9.1 |
| 5 | Vienna | 1,447 | 11,430 | 12.7 |
| 6 | Venice | 981 | 7,313 | 13.4 |
| 7 | Amsterdam | 796 | 5,598 | 14.2 |
| 8 | Stockholm | 783 | 2,849 | 14.2 |
| 9 | Florence | 1,864 | 10,269 | 18.2 |
| 10 | Madrid | 3,343 | 17,832 | 18.7 |
Hong Kong is the worst city for parking on Airbnb
Paying for parking is an inconvenience - but what if there isn’t any parking at all!?
These 10 cities have an incredibly high percentage of Airbnb listings with zero parking offered at all.
85.4% of Hong Kong’s 5,945 listings have no parking available at all. Combined with 8.3% offering paid parking, you will be pretty lucky to find the 6.3% that have free parking!
Of Venice’s 7,313 listings, 73.3% offer no parking. You may be better off hiring an E-boat!
And again, we have Paris - 71.7% of their 49,256 listings have no parking. Good thing the Metro system is so good!
The 10 Worst Cities on Airbnb for Parking
| Position | City | No Parking Spots | Total Listings | % of No Parking Spots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong* | 5,075 | 5,945 | 85.4 |
| 2 | Venice | 5,360 | 7,313 | 73.3 |
| 3 | Paris | 35,319 | 49,256 | 71.7 |
| 4 | Tokyo | 7,236 | 10,315 | 70.2 |
| 5 | Barcelona | 9,754 | 15,705 | 62.1 |
| 6 | Vienna | 6,764 | 11,430 | 59.2 |
| 7 | London | 38,834 | 66,642 | 58.3 |
| 8 | Milan | 9,396 | 16,785 | 56 |
| 9 | Madrid | 9,872 | 17,832 | 55.4 |
| 10 | Berlin | 9,464 | 17,291 | 54.7 |
85.3% of Airbnb parking spots in Tokyo are paid parking spots
On a similar vein, these 10 listings have the highest percentage of paid parking spots out of all parking spots at listings.
Tokyo doesn’t want to encourage more cars on the road, and it shows with 85.3% of all their Airbnb parking spots consisting of paid parking.
Paris comes second, with 76.5% paid spots out of 13,937 total parking spots at Airbnbs.
Barcelona is very close behind, with 76.1% of the 5,951 Airbnb parking spots requiring payment.
The 10 Worst Cities on Airbnb for Paid Parking by Total Parking Spots
| Position | City | Paid Parking Spots | Total Parking Spots | % of Paid Parking Spots by Total Parking Spots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo | 2,625 | 3,079 | 85.3 |
| 2 | Paris | 10,655 | 13,937 | 76.5 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 4,529 | 5,951 | 76.1 |
| 4 | Amsterdam | 2,327 | 3,123 | 74.5 |
| 5 | Vienna | 3,219 | 4,666 | 69 |
| 6 | Florence | 3,677 | 5,541 | 66.4 |
| 7 | Prague | 2,505 | 3,945 | 63.5 |
| 8 | Naples | 2,423 | 4,072 | 59.5 |
| 9 | Madrid | 4,617 | 7,960 | 58 |
| 10 | Hong Kong* | 496 | 870 | 57 |
Conclusion
If you’re an EV driver, Airbnb’s EV charging filter is a massive help when it comes to holiday booking time!
Cities like Shanghai, Los Angeles, London, Oslo, Amsterdam, and Munich are great choices, with loads of listings offering EV chargers.
If driving an EV around the city is important to you, Airbnb is 7.6 times more likely to have an EV charger than a hotel.
Once you’re finished charging, free parking is most freely available in Cape Town and loads of US cities, like Nashville, San Diego, and Los Angeles.
Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Venice, Barcelona, Prague, and Florence are not so great when it comes to free parking.
There’s a long way to go before road trips in an EV are more accessible, but this research should help guide you when you’re booking your next getaway!
Methodology
- We ordered data by total listings and collected data for the top 60 cities on Inside Airbnb
- From here, we were able to analyse data for these 60 cities by flitering the following amenities: ‘EV Charger’, ‘Free Parking on Premises’, ‘Free Parking off Premises’, ‘Free street parking’, ‘Paid parking on premises’, ‘Paid parking off premises'
- We then combined these into four categories: ‘EV Charger’, ‘Free Parking’, ‘Paid Parking’, ‘No Parking’
- The Hotel data was collected from Booking.com where we used the filters ‘Hotels’ and ‘Electric vehicle charging station’
- Access our Data Source by clicking the link
