Electric driving – Frequently Asked Questions

1. A charging station is not installed on the public highway.
2. There must be a private garage, a private parking space or a private driveway.
3. The house’s electricity network must be able to cope with the electricity requirements of the charging station to avoid short circuits. Your electrical installation must also comply with the RGIE (General Regulations for Electrical Installations).
4. If you agree to install a charging station, this means that:
   • You have the necessary authorisations.
   • You are in possession of all the necessary documents (e.g. the single line diagram of the installation).

To help you answer this question, here is a list of questions that you first need to ask yourself.

Please note that if it is not possible to install a charging station at your home, this does not automatically mean that it is not possible for you to drive an electric vehicle. Depending on your mobility needs, public charging or charging at your workplace may also be suitable.

The range of today's electric vehicles is up to 300km on a single charge.

The charging station can only be installed on private property, indoors or outdoors (no installation on a public site).

The charging station is installed on your private property (e.g. garage, private parking space, carport).

Is it possible to connect the charging station to your personal electricity meter? If so, this should not be a problem.

If the installation is in a common part of the building and/or the electricity meter does not belong to you, Arval needs the written agreement of the owner and/or the building manager.

If you are installing the charger in an apartment building, it is advisable to have a technical audit carried out on site by a technician. Then provide Arval with the written authorization of the owner of the residence and/or the building manager.

The dimensions are 370 x 240 x 130 mm (H x W x D). The standard mounting is on a wall. It is possible of installing it on a pole on request and is subject to an extra charge.

After a preliminary assessment (by e-mail and/or telephone), the installation date will be agreed with you in advance. We then make a second appointment for the certification of the installation by an independent body. This organisation will check whether the installation has been carried out correctly and will make recommendations if certain elements are not compliant. You remain responsible for your general electrical installation.

The electrical installation of the house must be able to withstand the electricity requirements of the charging station in order to avoid short circuits. It must also comply with the RGIE (General Regulations on Electrical Installations). But charging stations can be installed via a single or three phase connection. Advice on this will be given during the pre-installation interview. This is because it depends on parameters such as: the presence of energy-intensive equipment (sauna, swimming pool, etc.), the vehicle chosen, the desired charging capacity, etc.

It is possible to install a charging station at a family member's home, if you do not have the appropriate infrastructure and after consultation with your employer.

When an analysis shows that your electrical installation needs to be adapted, a quote can be drawn up to determine the additional cost of this adaptation.

Depending on what has been agreed with your employer, we may charge you for this additional cost. If the network manager (Fluvius, etc.) has to be called out, then this supplement will not be billed via Arval.

You are responsible for the compliance of your electrical installation and the use of the Arval Smart Cable. If in doubt, contact your electrician.

At a charging station (wallbox) you can charge up to eight times faster than with a normal socket at home. Here is an example of how long it takes to charge a 30 kW car battery, using a charging station or a normal household socket. A smart charging cable allows safe charging of a plug-in hybrid vehicle.

_{^{(*) Please note: your wall socket and wiring may not be suitable for vehicle charging. This could lead to dangerous situations when charging an electric vehicle at home. The socket may overheat and cause a fire.}}

You can easily calculate the charging time with taking into account the charging station and the power.

Vehicle battery size (kWh) / Maximum charging capacity of the charging station (kW) = Estimated number of hours required to charge the car

Example 1: 11,9 kWh / 3,7 kW = ± 3 hours

Example 2: 90 kWh / 22 kW = ± 4 hours

It changes every day. The network of charging stations is constantly expanding. With the charging card or key fob you can charge at providers such as: Allego, Blue Corner, Blue Current, EVBox, Greenflux, New Motion, Nuon, Schneider Mobility Plus, Ionity, Fastned, etc.

To find a charging station in Belgium or in Europe, consult the Numobi Charging and EVBox Charge apps.

Numobi Charging	EVBox Charge

The rate for on-street charging depends on the rate of the charging station used. At the moment there is no standard rate.

You can find these rates via the Numobi Charging and EVBox Charge apps (see question "Where can I charge on the public highway?”).

No, as long as your employer allows on-street charging, you will have access to all charging stations with which your provider has a roaming agreement.

The rates for public charging sessions are considerably higher than those for charging at home or at the office.

To charge an electric vehicle, a regular power of 3.000 W is needed, over a period of about 8 hours (a whole night). Household sockets are not intended for intensive and long-term use. Other appliances, such as a water heater, of similar power, are connected directly to the electrical panel and have their own protection circuits.

Some vehicles are supplied with a cable that is compatible with a domestic socket. This cable, which must contain a current limit of between 8 A and 13 A, should only be used as a back-up. Furthermore, there is no possibility of communication and power management if you connect your vehicle to a domestic socket.

This is why the manufacturers we work with recommend the use of a charging station that allows a dialogue between the vehicle and the charging infrastructure.

No, the Arval Smart Cable is activated as soon as it is plugged into a socket. For safety reasons, it is therefore very important to follow the instructions for use in the User Manual.

You can only use the smart charging cable on your private property and only on the vehicle designated in the lease.

The Tesla network is a closed network. To use it, you have to create an account on the Tesla website. To create the account, you need to register a credit card.

You cannot use a charging card from an external provider (EVBox, Numobi, etc.).

This depends on the type of charging station you have. To be able to manage your consumption, the charging station must be able to communicate remotely with the platform. Not all charging stations are smart stations. You should therefore always check whether your charging station can communicate with the platform used by your provider.

If this is the case, a technical intervention is necessary to modify the communication protocol and to allow consumption and refund management. A charge is made for this technical intervention.

You will need a charging card or a charging key fob.

As a driver, you should always be able to identify yourself with a charging card or key fob to be able to charge. This will allow you to start and stop the charging station and record your usage. To prevent fraud, don’t forget to close the reload session with your card or key fob.

The charging card or key fob does not have a PIN code.

Send an e-mail to fuel@arval.be immediately. Arval will block the charging card and/or key fob and request a new one.

Contact Arval Driver Care on 02 240 01 88 or call the technical support number on your charging card/station directly.

• My friend does not have a charging card yet: you can request a charging card from Numobi.
• My friend has a Numobi public charging card: please provide Numobi with your friend's charging card details. Refunds will only be made to the owner of the charging station.
• My friend has a public charging card from another provider: check if there is a roaming agreement between the charging card provider and Numobi. If so, ask to open the charging station and set a rate for these public transactions.

The provider refunds the power used at the end of the following month.

Each provider applies the CREG rates. All providers regularly adjust their rate plans.

• EVBox (wallbox) perform one update a year (usually in January), based on the November rate of the CREG BE and published in December.
• Numobi (wallbox) performs an update every month. Example: the consumption of March is reimbursed in April on the basis of the tariff set by CREG BE in January and published in February.
• Blue Corner (smart cable for plug-in hybride vehicles) adjusts the CREG BE rate every month. Example: March consumption is refunded in April on the basis of the rate set by the CREG BE in January and published in February.

Follow the following links for more information on

• the CREG (Belgian Federal Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation)
• the CREG rates in this table on page 3 (available in Dutch or French)

When you order your smart cable, the provider contacts you and you provide them with your bank details.

You should inform your insurer of the presence of a charging station. This may incur additional costs; it all depends on your insurance broker.

The charging station is not included in the tax price, therefore it has no influence.