Charging your electric vehicle in Brussels
- How do I charge my vehicle?
- Where can I find a charging station?
- How do I pay?
It should come as no surprise that the simplest and most cost-effective way of recharging your electric vehicle is to use a home charging station. Unfortunately, this isn’t always an option for people living in a city like Brussels, where you might live in a flat or a house without private parking. Thankfully, there are alternatives for charging in public and on private premises. We’ve provided a brief overview of your options below.
How do I recharge?
Regardless of the charging method you choose, the principle remains the same: just like your smartphone, the batteries in your electric vehicle need to be recharged regularly. That means you need a charging station (the charger), a cable and a payment card. We strongly advise against recharging using a conventional power socket, not just for safety reasons (there’s a risk of overheating), but because of the difference in speed (charging this way is much slower).
You should also be aware that you can extend the life of your batteries by not recharging them to full capacity. Most manufacturers recommend recharging to between 20% and 80%.
When it comes to charging stations, there are four options available:
- Home charging station: the best and cheapest option
- Public charging station: available on the road with a subscription and a card
- Company charging station: made available by your employer in accordance with the terms of use
- Private charging station: less commonly available, found in locations such as retailers’ car parks
While your home charging station has a cable adapted to your vehicle, other charging stations will usually require you to bring your own cable, or they may offer a selection of cables for you to use (i.e. at fast charging stations on motorways). There are several types of cable, the most common being CCS. Some charging stations may not be compatible with your vehicle. It’s worth knowing that your cable can’t be stolen: it’s magnetically anchored to the charging station and the vehicle during charging, and it can only be detached when the person who initiated the charging session uses their payment card to do so.
How long does it take to recharge?
Times have changed from when you would fill up in five minutes at a petrol station! Charging an electric vehicle takes a minimum of thirty minutes and up to five or six hours depending on the type of charging station used and the amount you need to charge. That means you need to plan your electric charging in advance depending on how long your battery has to last. You should also be aware that not all types of electric vehicle allow for rapid recharging, so make sure you’re fully informed about your battery life requirements before deciding to make a purchase.
The recharging speed of a charging station is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), with power ranging from 3.7 to 350 kWh. On average, a home charging station will deliver between 7.4 and 11 kWh. Going higher than that (22 kWh) requires a three-phase circuit carrying at least 30 amps. Public charging stations installed in the streets of Brussels range from 6 to 22 kWh. Then there are fast and super-fast charging stations, often located along major roads and motorways, which generally offer between 50 and 100 kWh and can even go up to 300 or 350 kWh (superchargers).
According to charging station operators, the most common charging power is 15 kW, which provides a driving range of around 100 km, depending on the make of vehicle. Charging 15 kW takes two hours at a 7.4 kW charging station, around an hour and 20 minutes at an 11 kW station and 40 minutes at a 22 kW station.
Where can I find a charging station in Brussels?
The electrify.brussels deployment plan from the Brussels Region aims to increase the density of the charging station network and make stations accessible to everyone in the capital. This is taking place in collaboration with Charge Point Operators (CPOs) who are responsible for the infrastructure and Mobility Service Providers (MSPs) who facilitate payment for charging sessions. While there are two CPOs in Brussels responsible for installing public charging stations (EnergyDrive and TotalEnergies), there are around thirty other players that provide charging stations for private individuals and businesses.
The targets of electrify.brussels are as follows:
- A public charging station within 150 m of every household in Brussels by the end of 2024
- 9 500 public charging stations from 2025
- 22 000 public charging stations by the end of 2035
The electrify.brussels website features an interactive map listing all the charging stations in Brussels, along with their capacity and a real-time indicator of whether or not they are available. In general, this information is also provided by your MSP. In April 2024, the number of charging stations in Brussels rose to more than 5 700.
How do I pay for my charging session?
This is one of the problem areas that needs to be improved. Payment is typically made to an MSP using a charge card as part of a subscription. There are around 30 MSPs in Brussels alone, meaning that the method of payment can vary a great deal depending on the charging station in question. What’s more, this variability also applies to the price. Charging can cost up to double the standard rate, and it is also difficult to predict or even clearly understand how much will be billed. As a result, it's not uncommon for drivers of electric vehicles to carry multiple cards to maximise their chances of using a charging station, with some users admitting they have up to six different cards. It should be noted that, in addition to the cost of the subscription, most MSPs also apply a usage fee which is added to the price of the charging session.
The key challenges therefore concern harmonising payment methods and prices to allow drivers not just to pay with any charge card, but also to normalise payment by debit or credit card, which is only rarely possible in 2024.
Parking at a charging station in Brussels
This is the other contentious issue. Although the installation of charging stations is accelerating rapidly in the capital, there are still far too few to meet the needs of a major city. Consequently, drivers tend to squat at charging stations as soon as they find one available. The Region estimates that the average parking time at a charging station is around six hours, which is much longer than the charging time needed to achieve a driving range of 100 km. The aim is therefore to speed up the turnaround of these vehicles.
It is currently free to park at a charging station in Brussels, provided that the vehicle is electric, connected to the station with a cable and recharging. However, starting in April 2024, the Brussels Regional Parking Plan (PRPS – the regulations can be read here) stipulates that drivers will be fined 50 euros for parking beyond the time needed to recharge. An increasing number of Brussels communes (12 out of 19) have entrusted the monitoring of parking to parking.brussels, which has already announced that it will penalise vehicles that break the rules (parking at a charging station when the charging session is complete and the indicator is green). The stations in question have been fitted with a sign explaining this fine and the scanners recording the number plates of offending vehicles should be able to identify rogue parking at the charging stations from 2024 onwards.
KBC Guide to Driving Electric Vehicles
Are electric vehicles the right choice for the people of Brussels? Despite the issue of access occasionally being more complicated for these vehicles, the answer remains yes, especially as things are generally getting better and more user-friendly. The vast majority of Brussels residents have access to at least two of the three possible recharging solutions (home, company, public), and even if drivers can’t recharge at work or at home, proper organisation and planning should make it possible for everyone to find what they need. After all, when mobility is as complex as it is in Brussels, getting by is a way of life!
To help you navigate these challenges, KBC has developed a platform that identifies your needs, provides you with personalised advice and recommends a range of vehicles to suit your situation. Check out our Guide to Driving Electric Vehicles.
Want to switch to an electric vehicle?
KBC Brussels has all kinds of beneficial financing options available for both private customers and company cars. What’s more, everything can be arranged online!
