What power should you envisage for charging at home? We explain the factors you need to consider.
90% of the time, our cars are stationary. There’s plenty of time to charge them.
Above all at night, when there’s enough electricity, and preferably with low power, to limit costs.
The power is a factor to consider, but so are the number of phases and amperage as well as whether you want to install a charging point or charge by plug.
Amperage and phases: important factors!
Before getting in to the question of power, it’s important to know that certain electric cars can only charge on:
- a single-phase installation (1N 230V)
- and others on a three-phase installation with neutral (3N - 400V)
Luckily, this is changing very quickly.
The vast majority of new cars on the market offer both single-phase charging (230V) and three-phase with neutral (400V).
Three-phase 400V charging is no longer necessary to be able to charge your electric car.
Therefore don’t hesitate to check which type of charging your car needs!
Find your home’s connection type
At home: normal charging is recommended
Do you come home in the evening and set off to work the next day? Your car then easily has 12 hours to charge. This is more than enough to completely charge your electric car at low power, which is less costly.
What’s normal charging?
We refer to normal charging when the power varies between 3.7 kW to 7.4 kW at 230V.
At home, we recommend charges of 3.7 kW or 7.4 k
| Normal | 230V | Single-phase | 16 A | 3,7 kW | Home |
| Normal | 230V | Single-phase | 32 A | 7,4 kW | Home/public charging |
| Semi-fast | 400V | Three-phase + neutral | 16 A | 11 kW | Home/public charging |
| Semi-fast | 400V | Three-phase + neutral | 32 A | 22 kW | Home/public charging |
| Ultra-fast | High-voltage | Continuous current | +22 kW | Strategic locations |
Normal charging (up to 7.4 kW) is increasingly developed by manufacturers for home charging.
Semi-fast charging (between 11 kW and 22kW) is often used for street points, in semi-public car parks and in your employer’s car park.
Ultra-fast charging (over 22 kW) is available in strategic locations, like service stations on motorways or car parks for shared cars.
Calculate the charging time based on the power
What if I want to install a higher power or 400V?
We’re convinced that power of 3.7 kW or 7.4 kW meets the vast majority of people’s needs. If you would still like to have the same power, it’s obviously possible, but at a cost! (read in which cases we recommend stronger charges here)
Here are the different costs possible if you wish to have more power than normal.
One-off cost of reinforcing the connection
If you need to reinforce your electric meter, the price may vary between a few hundred and few thousand euros, depending on the power required.
One-off cost for changing your private electricity installation
If you wish to increase from 230V to 400V, you must adapt your home’s electric board to distribute the phases correctly.
N.B. 400V is not available everywhere in Brussels. To find out whether you can connect to 400V, please contact us.
If there is no 400V available, you can install an autotransformer which will convert the 230V voltage coming from the grid to 400V. This will cost approximately 2,000 euros.
Recurring reinforcement cost
Having more power available also has a recurring tariff.
Today, it’s still limited to a additional cost of 30 euros a year if you exceed 13 kVA.
But the rate for your electrical consumption is sure to change to a rate based on capacity. You will therefore have to pay more if you need more power.
Request your reinforcement
Example for a standard home
A standard home has a rated power of approximately 10 kW (single-phase 40 A).
This power is more than ample for all your electrical goods to work at the same time.
In general, at peak, a standard home uses around 4 to 5 kW maximum. This provides a good safety margin.
If you add a load of 3.7 kW to be able to charge your electric car, you are still below 10 kW.
It’s even possible to increase to a more powerful charge of 7.4 kW (single-phase 32 A) if you use smart charging. Installing a smart charging point will enable to you save on the costs of reinforcing your installation as well as the recurring costs in future tariffs.
Good to know!
- You don’t come home every day with a completely empty battery.
So, you will surely not need to charge your battery all night.
- Brussels residents drive an average of 30 km a day.
With normal charging, your daily charging can be done in a few hours.
If you need to drive further and you don’t have the time for a full charge, there are ultra-fast charging points on the roads if you need them.
- You can charge nearly 80% of the battery in half the time.
It’s often the last few percentage that take a lot of time to charge. Just like with your smartphone.
- Our cars are often parked for longer than 12 hours a day!
We therefore have the time to charge them.
- There are smart charging systems
These systems enable you to use the maximum power available at your home, taking into account your needs other than electricity charging.
For example, when you start to use your electrical goods, less power will go to your car.