9:54 am, October 7, 2022
A fleet of Hyundai Ioniq 5 EVs are to be used to power an entire hotel in a world first later this month.
Hotel Hyundai has been thought up as a response to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis with the site situated on the edge of edge of Epping Forest in Essex.
The brainchild of comedian and foot critic Grace Dent, the site includes a ‘high-end luxury cabin’ and a private chef who only uses local sourced ingredients.
The facility is also equipped with a coffee lounge, a projector and popcorn machine to offer a cinema-like experience.
Hyundai’s electric Ioniq 5 models will power the site, using the cars’ ‘vehicle-to-load’ feature, which allows the EVs’ batteries to provide energy for external equipment.
The cars will also provide power for a coffee machine and an electric shower as part of the innovative project.
An adaptor on the cars will have a socket into which standard electrical appliances can be plugged, offering maximum power of 3.6kW (or 15 amps).
Dent said: ‘We’re looking for unique, memorable stays more now than ever and this is a delicious blend of innovation, luxury and comfort that gets you thinking.
‘I hope this three-week pop-up hotel is just the start for this concept of a car plugging in and powering a luxury experience like this. I’m predicting that guests will be hoping that this amazing hotel and the full experience it offers might be here again in 2023.”
(Grace Dent: PA Images)
Hotel Hyundai will be open for three weeks in October and November, with all stays free via a competition.
Hyundai said it decided to launch the hotel after a poll of 2,000 adults that it carried out found that 55 per cent of them were rethinking their future holiday plans because of the cost-of-living crisis.
