Brussels therefore plans to 250 new charging points to install, that is to say about 500 charging stations (some stations have more than one charging station). If we are to believe what Alain Maron (Écolo), the Environment Minister of the Region, La Libre Belgium double what has been made in the confirmed 3 years.

It is a fact that the electric car is rapidly approaching. We expect an explosion in demand in feasibility with the government’s project that will phase out all tax deductions for other cars by 2027. By 2035, the Region wants 11,000 charging points offer (22,000 charging stations in total). A real challenge, because there are currently only 1,000… Still, Alain Maron don’t go too fast and he plans to analyze along the way to suit his objectives.

Not all on the street

According to Alain Maron these charging stations are public and therefore accessible 24 hours a day, but not all of them will. There will indeed be placed in parking garages. The aim is that every resident of Brussels can find a charging station at a maximum of 250 m from their home, which seems very comfortable, even though we ask that everyone will be able to charge easily. It seems logical that more charging stations are needed in densely populated areas than in residential areas.

However, it is clear that these terminals have limited power. The largest will be limited to a charging power of 7.4 kW, which is only double that of a household outlet. That’s not much, especially if a large number of cars have to be set up. According to Sibelga it will take between 20 and 30 minutes to gain about 20 kilometers of range. So that’s not very fast, even though most electric cars today have AC chargers on board that are limited to 7.4 kW. However, this will be fast and will be equipped with powerful chargers. Terminals seen as fast (11 kW) will be drafted, but will inevitably they will also be better for the users.

QR code to pay

Of course the terminals will work with an electronic payment system. According to Alain Maron at least with a QR code that is easy to scan, as is already the case in some municipalities with parking payments. Some terminals will be equipped with bank card readers, like the good old gas stations. A surveillance system is also being set up to maintain the security of the places reserved for the charging of electric cars, or that an electric car does not stay at a terminal all day if it has already refueled. Also these control tasks of management tasks.

What the price of charging concerns Alain Maron believes that there is currently no signal that the price of electricity at the charging points would be higher than at home. According to the minister, the tender is also impossible a ceiling price of 50 cents € per kWh, which, however, is well above the current price. However it is today how the price of electricity will continue to be unknown, only want in October 2021 he met up 17%.

Not for commuters

Alain Maron also took a to sue in regards to the commuter door to indicate that these terminals not for them are intended. They would stick to the inhabitants of Brussels. This is an approach that raises questions, especially as a large part of the traffic consists of employees outside the capital and that company cars must be 100% electric from 20 onwards. In any case, Alain Maron (and Sibelag) believes that it is up to employers of companies established in the Brussels Territory to charging infrastructure.

It’s just the question of the Brussels electricity grid will be able to meet this additional demand for electricity. According to Alain Maron and Sibelga, the network is perfectly capable of operating without significant investments a share of 20 to 30% of the electric cars from the fleet, which means automatic installation with 130,000 cars. In the short term, that’s good. But what about in the long run?