EV Charging at Holiday Parks: Meeting the Rise in Electric Staycations

The staycation boom didn't reverse when travel restrictions lifted; it settled into a genuine, durable shift

in how people holiday in the UK. Alongside it, a quieter but equally durable shift has been happening in

who's driving to these destinations: a growing share arrive in an EV, and increasingly, the availability of

charging at the site itself is a factor in where they choose to book.

Holiday parks are, structurally, close to an ideal charging environment. Guests typically stay for several

days, arrive with a specific need to charge before departure rather than an urgent need to charge

immediately, and are parked in the same spot for the duration of their stay. This is dwell-time charging

in its purest form, and it means holiday parks don't need to compete on rapid-charging speed to offer

genuinely useful infrastructure.

That said, 'add some chargers' undersells what good holiday park charging design actually requires. Pitch

and lodge layouts vary enormously between sites, and cabling, gradient, and existing electrical capacity

all shape what's realistically achievable pitch by pitch. A site built for touring caravans has very different

infrastructure needs to one built around static lodges, and getting this wrong early is expensive to

correct later.

Guest experience matters as much as the technical spec. Clear signage, simple payment methods that

don't require yet another app, and chargers positioned so they don't create trip hazards or block pitch

access all shape whether guests actually use — and recommend — the facility. Holiday parks live and die

on reviews and repeat bookings, and charging infrastructure is now firmly part of that guest experience

conversation.

There's also a seasonal capacity question specific to this sector. Demand for charging peaks in exactly

the same weeks that overall site occupancy peaks, which means the electrical infrastructure needs to be

designed around summer holiday and bank holiday peak load, not average annual usage. Undersizing for

the shoulder season while ignoring what August actually demands is a common and avoidable planning

mistake.

For site operators evaluating this now, the practical next step is a site-specific capacity and demand

assessment: current grid connection, pitch layout, projected guest EV ownership over the site's

investment horizon, and how charging fits alongside other planned site improvements. Parks that plan

this properly are turning charging into a genuine point of differentiation in their marketing, not just an

amenity buried in the small print.