Wallonia lags behind Flanders and neighboring countries in charging station density. To address this situation, the Walloon government has made two decisions.
Firstly, (ultra) fast chargers are now also allowed at motorway parking areas without petrol stations. And secondly, to accelerate the rollout of charging stations, “Électromobilité”, or Electromobility, is being set up, a committee that brings together the main public and private players involved in this rollout.
No more “blind spots”
With these decisions, the Walloon government aims to promote the installation of charging stations in all parking lots, particularly Type III parking lots, which currently have no fuel facilities and are therefore only suitable for parking or picnicking.
The Walloon motorway car parks with a gas station and a restaurant, known as Type I and II parking lots, often already have fast chargers from Tesla, Ionity, or Fastned, for example.
However, in smaller car parks without a gas station, it has not been easy to provide commercial services, such as charging stations, until now. As a result, large parts of the Walloon motorway network remained “blind spots” for EV drivers, because the distance between the large stations is sometimes too great.
With the new measure, the Walloon government is amending the 1995 legislation, allowing chargers to be installed at more locations along the motorway, which should also reduce pressure on the large charging stations.
Cooperation between network operators
To facilitate this rollout, the “Électromobilité” committee will also coordinate with the various network operators in Wallonia. Because these smaller car parks often lack a robust electrical connection, cooperation with network operators is crucial to ensure sufficient power.
The committee, led by SPW Mobility and Infrastructure, brings together the main public and private players involved in the rollout of charging stations: administrations, operators, federations (EV Belgium, Energia, Mobil), territorial agencies, and municipalities.
An initial report will be presented to the government in the spring of 2026, followed by an annual review.
In May, there were more than 18,000 charging stations in Belgium, four-fifths of which were in Flanders. Approximately 108 charging infrastructure locations were along or near motorways, with that number expected to reach around 130 by the end of the year.
In Wallonia, there were approximately 2,800 charging stations during that period, around 30 of which were located along motorways.
