If an employee chooses an electric car in pillar 1, you as the employer also have to make sure they can charge it. In this article you’ll read:
- whether the obligation applies to your company
- how to include charging in your charging policy
- how to track charging costs so the car’s TCO stays accurate
Does your company have to offer a mobility budget?
Your company has to offer a mobility budget if it meets two conditions.
You have offered company cars for more than 36 months.
Every month in which your company offered at least one company car counts, even if there were periods without company cars in between. Months before the new law count too. If you have offered company cars since 2022, you are well over 36 months. If you started later, the obligation applies from the moment you reach 36 months.
You have at least 15 employees on average.
You count all employees, not just those with a company car.
| Number of employees | Mobility budget required from |
|---|---|
| 50 or more | 1 January 2027 |
| 15 to 49 | 1 January 2028 |
| Fewer than 15 | Exempt |
What the obligation doesn’t mean
No forced switch
Employees don’t have to switch. You offer the mobility budget, your employee chooses.
Lease contracts continue
Current lease contracts keep running. You can offer the mobility budget as soon as the contract for the current car ends.
Sometimes a car is required
For certain roles you can require a car. You can oblige a sales representative or technician to choose an electric car in pillar 1.
Required to offer a mobility budget?
If an employee chooses an electric car in pillar 1, they also need a charging card. With Mobiflow, they charge at 95% of public charging points in Belgium.
The three pillars in brief
Your employee converts the annual cost of their company car into a budget and spreads it over three pillars. As the employer, you decide which pillars you open; the employee chooses within them.
| Pillar | What it covers | Tax treatment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Zero-emission company car (optional) | Fully electric car and all costs: leasing, insurance, charging, charging device | Benefit in kind |
| 2 · Sustainable mobility (mandatory) | Public transport, shared mobility, (electric) bike, housing costs close to work | Exempt from withholding tax and social security contributions |
| 3 · Cash balance | What remains after pillars 1 and 2 | Special contribution of 38.07% |
Since 1 January 2026, only a 100% electric car qualifies for pillar 1. Motorised options in pillar 2, such as a taxi ride or a shared car, must also be electric. For employees who need a car, pillar 1 is the logical choice.
How to cover charging costs in your car policy
The charging costs of a pillar 1 car come out of the pillar 1 budget. That’s only possible if your car policy provides for it. Set out these points:
Who gets a charging card?
Every employee with an electric car in pillar 1.
What comes out of the budget?
The kWh charged on the road, the charging card’s administration fees, the reimbursement of home charging, and the home charging device with installation and maintenance. Charging a shared car falls under pillar 2.
Where can the employee charge?
For example only in Belgium, or in neighbouring countries too.
Which rate applies to home charging?
You reimburse home charging per measured kWh, up to the flat rate the CREG publishes per region every quarter. For the third quarter of 2026 that was €0.3222 per kWh in Flanders, €0.3719 in Brussels and €0.3783 in Wallonia. You apply the rate of the region where the employee lives, or the lowest of the three if you want one company rate.
Which conditions apply to the flat rate?
As the employer, you provide the charging device. It measures consumption through a communication system, the reimbursement is set out in your car policy, and you only reimburse the electricity used by the company car.
How much charging budget does the employee get?
Include charging in the car’s lease cost. Assign an annual charging budget and spread it monthly over the lease budget. That way charging is part of the car’s TCO and you track it every month.
What happens when an employee leaves?
Agree who owns the home charging device and what happens to the charging card.
Home and on-the-road charging in one platform
Many fleet managers still combine charging costs by hand: expense claims for home charging, separate invoices for public charging, their own calculations at the CREG rate. That makes it hard to see what an employee spends on charging in total, and what comes out of their pillar 1 budget. With Mobiflow you combine the charging card and split billing:
On the road
Your employee charges with the Mobiflow charging card at 95% of public charging points in Belgium and at more than 700,000 charging points in Europe.
At home
You reimburse home charging sessions with split billing. In My Mobiflow you set a reimbursement policy and rate once, for example the CREG flat rate for the employee’s region. The charging device measures every session, and Mobiflow calculates the reimbursement.
Your first charging card is free
No activation fees or subscription fees.
Keep charging costs within the TCO
The pillar 1 budget is based on the car’s total cost of ownership (TCO). The lease price is fixed, charging costs vary. At the same charging point, the price can differ by tens of percent depending on the charging card. If an employee often charges at expensive charging points, the energy cost goes up and the TCO in the lease contract no longer adds up. As a fleet manager, you keep this under control:
Price upfront
Your employee sees in the Mobiflow app what a charging session costs, and that price is also on the invoice.
Charging per country
You decide in which countries the charging card works.
Costs per employee
In My Mobiflow you see straight away who charges more than expected.
Kilometres driven
In the Mobiflow app you track kilometres driven and compare them with charging costs.
Action plan: ready for the deadline
Do the check
Count your employees and determine since when you have offered company cars.
Choose which pillars you open
Pillar 2 is mandatory, pillar 3 follows automatically. Decide whether you offer pillar 1 and for which roles you require a car.
Update your car policy
Set out how you handle charging at home, on the road and at the office, and what comes out of the budget. Also agree who owns the home charging device and what happens to it when an employee leaves.
Choose your charging solution
Every employee with a pillar 1 car needs a charging card, and home charging has to be reimbursed correctly.
Inform your employees
Tell them about the pillars, the rules and when they can switch.