How a 17th-Century Monastery in Provence Turned EV Charging Into a “Set It and Forget It” Revenue Stream

As electric vehicles become mainstream across Europe, hospitality businesses are facing a new expectation:

Guests don’t just ask, “Do you have parking?”
They ask, “Do you have EV charging?”

For some properties, especially independent guest houses and retreat centers, this creates a dilemma:

How do you provide EV charging
without creating operational complexity?

This was exactly the question faced by Monastère de Ségriès, a historic guest house in Provence, France.

A Unique Hospitality Setting

Monastère de Ségriès is not a typical hotel.

Located in the heart of Provence, the property is a restored former monastery that now hosts:

Retreats
Corporate seminars
Weddings and celebrations
Fully catered private events

It’s a family-run business with deep roots — in fact, the family has lived there longer than the monks once did.

Their focus is hospitality, not technology.

So when guests began arriving with electric vehicles, the owners wanted to respond — but in a way that aligned with their philosophy:

Simple. Autonomous. Hassle-free.

The Challenge: EV Charging Without the Headache

The objectives were clear:

Charging available exclusively to guests
No manual payment handling
No monthly software subscriptions
No complicated IT setup
No staff involvement in billing

As the owner explains:

“I wanted to allow my customers to charge their cars fast and autonomously. I didn’t want to bother with making them pay directly.”

For a guest house focused on experience and atmosphere, EV charging needed to operate quietly in the background.

Evaluating the Options

Like many independent operators, the team explored several EV charging platforms.

But many solutions came with:

Upfront costs
Monthly subscriptions
Complex integrations
App-based ecosystems
Mandatory user accounts

For a single-location hospitality venue, this felt excessive.

What they needed was:

A simple way to monetize charging
Flexibility to set their own price
A system guests could use instantly
No long-term commitment

Why They Chose Killswitch

Killswitch offered a different model.

1. No Subscription. No Setup Fees.

The platform is free to use for EV charger management.
Transaction fees apply only when payments are processed.

“No upfront costs or monthly costs. I can set my price and forget about it.”

For a hospitality business, that simplicity matters.

2. QR Code Payments — No App Required

Guests simply scan a QR code at the charger.

They can pay using:

Credit card
Apple Pay®
Google Pay®

No downloads. No registration. No friction.

This was critical for a property hosting international guests and older visitors who may not want to install another app.

3. Works With Existing Chargers

Killswitch supports OCPP-compatible chargers and can integrate with non-OCPP setups.

Even though Monastère de Ségriès had a charger that wasn’t previously integrated, the onboarding process was collaborative.

“The basic workings were very quick. We tried to implement some extra features together. Once things were ironed out it’s been great ever since.”

Implementation: From Setup to Autonomy

After configuration, the system required no ongoing oversight.

No monthly reconciliation.
No manual billing.
No chasing payments.

In the owner’s words:

“Set it and forget it.”

This is perhaps the most powerful description of successful EV charging deployment for independent operators.

The Results

Today, EV charging at Monastère de Ségriès:

Is available exclusively to guests
Generates additional revenue
Requires zero administrative effort
Operates entirely autonomously

And most importantly, it does not interfere with the core hospitality experience.

“It’s a set it and forget it service that brings in revenue with no headache.”

What This Means for Hospitality Businesses

EV charging is no longer optional in many regions.

But it doesn’t need to mean:

Complex SaaS contracts
IT-heavy deployments
Staff involvement in payments
Administrative overhead

For independent hotels, guest houses, retreat centers, and event venues, the right EV charging platform should:

Improve guest satisfaction
Align with sustainability goals
Add revenue
Stay invisible operationally

Monastère de Ségriès proves that it’s possible.

The Bigger Shift in EV Charging

Across Europe, we’re seeing a transition:

From network-heavy, app-driven ecosystems
to simple, QR-based, self-service charging.

For independent operators, flexibility and autonomy matter more than scale.

The future of EV charging in hospitality may not be about building massive networks.

It may simply be about enabling local businesses to offer charging — easily.

Final Thoughts

When a 17th-century monastery in Provence adopts EV charging and describes it as “set it and forget it,” it says something powerful:

Modern infrastructure doesn’t have to be complicated.

It just has to work.

If you run a hotel, guest house, retreat center, or hospitality venue and are considering EV charging, the experience of Monastère de Ségriès may be a helpful reference point.

EV charging can be simple.
It can be autonomous.
And it can quietly generate revenue in the background.

About Killswitch

Killswitch is an EV charger management and payment platform designed for independent hosts, hotels, residential buildings, parking operators, and small-to-mid-size networks.

No subscriptions.
No setup fees.
QR payments, RFID access, OCPP support.

Learn more at: https://www.killswitch.cc/

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