Element Hotels, owned by the Starwood group of hotels and resorts, will provide parking spaces that are charging stations for electric cars according to a report in today’s Marketing Daily.
Implications: This move is as much symbolic as it is substantive, since there are only six properties in the Elements chain, with five more locations planned. (Hardly a broad enough impact to alter the course of global warming.) But I commend the move… because the company is putting actions, not just words, toward the idea of environmental responsibility.
More importantly, the move reminds us to stop and think about the consequence of fundamental change in the automotive industry. What will a gas station look like, when vehicles no longer use gas? Will there be plug-ins at the workplace so cars can re-charge after their morning commute? How will “the Grid” need to be modified? Who will pay for it? What price will petroleum have to hit… before paying for the shift to electricity becomes economically attractive? And, will there be a backlash against electric cars, if/when people realize just how much of our electricity is created through the burning of fossil fuels? (I’m just sayin.’)
Long term, few trends will be more fascinating to watch than “The Fuel Economy.”
Mike Anderson
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