The Belgian company EnergyVision will invest 15 million euros over the next twelve months in installing approximately 150 fast-charging stations in Belgium “with no price difference with slow-charging stations”. Until recently, EnergyVision had ten fast-charging stations in Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent.

The new fast-charging stations will be installed on the sites of more than sixty Hubo do-it-yourself stores nationwide. With a charging capacity of 300 to 350 kW, most electric vehicles can be charged in 15 minutes.

Fast but cheap

The new charging stations will be “ultra-fast” and “at the lowest price guaranteed on the market”, so without any price difference with standard (slow) charging stations. EnergyVision says it can sell at record-low prices because it produces green energy on a large scale via solar panels, which it is known for.

The company came in the news in 2022 announcing its ambitious plan to install 5 000 charging stations in Belgium in the next two years and its intentions to produce 2 700 MW of green electricity by 2030 via solar energy. The latter to be done in Belgium, Morocco, and China. By doing so, EnergyVision obtained the attention and investment (€20 million) of Flemish entrepreneur Marc Coucke.

Moreover, the company does not have to pay a fee to operate the charging stations at the Hubo car parks. Hubo, therefore, misses out on potential income, but the low charging rates more than compensate for this because they attract additional customers.

Tax deductible

Today, drivers of electric vehicles are hardly concerned about the rate per kWh they pay at public charging stations. The vast majority of electric cars on Belgian roads are company cars, and the costs of charging are tax deductible.

But that will change as soon as more private individuals switch to electric cars. “Private individuals are much more sensitive to price differences,” concludes Maarten Michielssens, CEO of EnergyVision.