Laurent, a resident of Anderlecht, has been driving an electric car since 2019. Used to using public terminals to recharge his vehicle, he noticed a difference in price that he considers “incomprehensible”. The prices of two electric charging stations near his home differ significantly even though they are located on streets very close to each other. How to explain it?
Near Laurent’s, two charging stations for electric cars display very different prices. One charges 32 cents per kilowatt hour, while the other reaches 87 cents.
For the people of Anderlecht, this discovery in the “same area” of the town is difficult to understand. “The cheapest terminal is in the street next to my home, 50 meters away, while the one at 87 cents is only 200 meters away, in a parallel street. It’s difficult to justify such a price difference for the same service”he laments.
Experienced, Laurent was vigilant that day. When he saw this new terminal, he said he took care to check the price of the recharge via an application. “Fortunately, I looked at the price because it was a brand new terminal. I wanted to test it because the terminal near me is often busy, since we are in the city and it is There are a lot of electric cars.”
According to him, many users do not take this precaution. “A lot of people would plug in directly, thinking that the price is similar to that of neighboring stations. That’s somewhat normal. Not everyone is going to start trying to go through the details of the station before plugging in. That should theoretically be like gasoline and diesel or any other fuel Prices should be a regulated minimum And not change from one to two, or even more, from one terminal to another, when it is. It’s in the same city. It’s almost a scam.”
For Laurent, the price difference observed in Anderlecht “beyond understanding”, car the terminal “the most expensive is in the middle of town, for slow charging”. “We pay more than for a highway supercharger, where charging is much faster,” he assures. “I live in an apartment, so I charge my vehicle most of the time via a public station, and the price is usually between 30 and 50 cents.”
The objective is to inform the user, not to set prices
Philippe Vangeel, director of EV Belgium (the federation which works to develop zero-emission mobility in our country), explains that the charging station market in Europe currently operates according to a principle of free competition.
Today, regulations impose price transparency, without setting limits. Operators are thus free to determine their prices as long as they are viewable via a QR code for slow terminals or a display screen for fast terminals.
“The objective is to inform the user, but not to set a limit on the price”he specifies. “Users must be able to find out about prices. On slow terminals, this can be via a QR code or another secure system. On fast terminals, this must be with a device where prices must be displayed .” A rule which is gradually being put in place in Belgium.
In Brussels, certain terminals are installed, with a price imposed by the Region to offer a competitive price to users. For these terminals, the price is set at 30 cents, which guarantees a fixed cost to motorists, but not all terminals in the capital benefit from this framework. Some terminals are installed by operators who can freely set their prices. “Unfortunately, the European Commission has not considered a price cap,” regrets Philippe Vangeel. “It considers that the market must develop itself, with competition between prices. With the guarantee of price transparency, the user will probably check prices and look for the cheapest terminals. We inform without paying the price.”
The director of EV Belgium advises checking prices and comparing. “As we can do it, let’s do it, to have an idea of the price before making the purchase. This will avoid surprises. This price difference observed by this resident of Anderlecht is not new . A few years ago, we saw even higher price differences.”
Could prices be regulated? “I hope who will be. It is the sector which will have to do it. For the moment, the Commission says that the sector must do it, through competition. Maybe that will happen one day. The best solution , it’s slow charging, at home or at the employer’s. They have other rates, 30 cents is very competitive, because that’s the rate we pay at home. concludes Philippe Vangeel.
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