On 9 June, all Belgians over 18 will be ready for the elections. While political parties consider a variety of issues ranging from the economy to healthcare, electric mobility is a fairly new topic. So what is actually each party's position on electric vehicles (EVs) and electric mobility in general?
We look at the views of the main political parties in both Flanders and Wallonia.
Flanders
CD&V supports the expansion of bidirectional charging and smart charging. They want to make electric driving more accessible by adjusting price ratios
They are also following the European standard of offering only electric commercial vehicles through leasing by 2025. But the party is not a fan of new premiums for electric cars because this ‘means the amount of the premium does not end up with the buyer, but with the manufacturer.’ explains Sofie Mertens.
Groen advocates for social leasing of EVs starting from 100 euros per month to make them affordable for everyone. They also support the further rollout of charging stations in strategic locations to make them accessible to all.
They aim to make energy prices a quarter cheaper, this would also make charging your electric car cheaper.
N-VA embraces electric vehicles, but does not want to roll it out faster than EU commitments. They also want the battery capacity of a used electric car to be mandatory in the Car-Pass.
Vooruit calls for a strong network of charging points and a national action plan for accessible charging infrastructure.
They want to electrify freight transport as soon as possible by reforming road pricing and phasing out subsidies for professional diesel.
For individuals, they want a system of social leasing to make electric cars affordable for the wider population.
Vlaams Belang wants to abolish the obligation not to buy petrol or diesel cars after 2030 and advocates a gradual replacement of salary cars with mobility budgets.
‘We will not force Flemings to choose between a very expensive electric car or no car at all. Vlaams Belang is in favour of a gradual voluntary replacement of salary cars with mobility budgets, in which employees can choose an equivalent charge reduction or an alternative means of transport.’ they say in their 2024 programme.
Open VLD wants to further commit to greening the Flemish car fleet.
They are big proponents of vehicle-to-grid charging: ‘We are optimising our existing energy grid by absorbing peaks through bi-directional charging. We are therefore eliminating the problems in the legislation that makes the rollout of bi-directional charging points more difficult.’
Their aim is also to improve sharing systems, such as sharing charging poles on the same street and mobile chargers.
Wallonia
The proposal of PS aims to encourage eMobility for low-income households, and accelerate the installation of charging points at homes, businesses and public roads.
MR wants to revise car taxes without increases, install many charging stations and provide mobility solutions for owners of old cars.
Ecolo advocates the rapid rollout of an electric vehicle charging network and encourages the development of light electric vehicles and electric motorbikes and mopeds.
This party wants to reform car taxes to encourage EV purchase.
As for charging points, the plan is to install a network of one point for every 10 electric cars and one supercharger for every 100 electric vehicles.
It is clear that Belgian political parties have different approaches on electric mobility. Some parties want to accelerate EV adoption with subsidies and infrastructure investment, while others are more cautious and want to ensure affordability and technological developments first. The voter's choice on 9 June will determine future policy on electric mobility in Belgium.
Pluginsights
Kom hier alles te weten over de EV-Sector en vergaar nieuwe inzichten in de transitie naar eMobility.