About high charging prices and dissatisfied customers

GHENT, 6 NOVEMBER 2024 – Transparency, customer care, and predictable, low prices are the core of what EnergyVision provides.. This is what we stand for, strive for, and want to be judged on. And then… you encounter the maze of unclear charging prices.
Last week was another one of those weeks.

At our own charging points, things are straightforward: we consistently rank among the 2% most affordable providers in Belgium (externally validated daily), our fast-charging (DC) rates are as low as those for AC charging, and if you find a cheaper rate elsewhere, we’ll refund the difference. This is because we are committed to proving daily that green energy is the most affordable choice, a principle we also apply to our charging cards.

However, to give our customers the broadest possible access to charging stations across Europe, our EnergyVision charging card can also be used at charging points operated by other providers. And that’s where things sometimes go very wrong. The lack of price transparency and the tangled network of various providers can lead to unexpected costs, as two of our customers experienced last week.

The first customer connected his car to a BLINK charging point in an underground parking garage in Brussels. By the time his car was fully charged, he was already abroad. He only picked up his car several days later, at which point the rotation fee charged by the station had already accumulated significantly. Unfortunately, the full impact of this only became apparent three months later, by which time the customer had incurred this fee three times. The bill? €1,934 for three partial charges.
Could the customer have known this? Yes, if he had checked the app. 
Could we have prevented it? Not at this point.

A second customer was traveling through Germany and charged his car several times at a Total Energies charging point using our card. Same story: the car was fully charged, but he stayed at the station a bit longer, resulting in a bill of more than €500 (over €2.60 per kWh). The customer was understandably upset with us.
Could the customer have known this? Yes, if he had checked the app. 
Could we have prevented it? Not at this point.

But we will be able to in the future! To avoid situations like these, we are developing our own app and platform focused on maximum ease of use. By default, the app will shield customers from unpleasant surprises. Charging points that exceed a set kWh rate or impose an unreasonably high rotation fee will be disabled by default. Users will still be able to charge at those points if they wish or need to by toggling off our warning, but they’ll continue to receive alerts if prices spiral out of control.

Because outrageously high prices benefit no one and only lead to dissatisfied customers, unaffordable bills, and unnecessary stress and frustration. We are working hard to build a platform that eliminates these surprises. In the meantime, we urge the entire sector to prioritize greater price transparency and fairness.

For the customer who received a bill of €1,934, we have waived €1,450. 
For the customer with a bill over €500, we have waived half. The rest will be taken as a loss.
For future customers, we can only keep reminding everyone: check prices in our app, use our EnergyVision charging points whenever possible, and don’t linger at a charging point once your car is fully charged. And above all, keep voicing concerns if issues arise. We are here to listen.