Charging your electric vehicle
Charging solutions for every need
Find out what you need to charge your electric car
At home, at the office or on the road
Charger
The charger can be installed at home or at the office; alternatively, you can use public chargers available on the road.
Charging cable
Electric vehicles come with a cable to connect the car to the charging station. In some cases, you can use whatever is available at the charging station.
Charging card
Identical to a fuel card, to activate charging stations. Is called an EMSP (Electric Mobility Service Provider) card, and is provided by various partners with whom LeasePlan works.
LeasePlan provides the charging solutions you need for your electric cars. At home, on the move and at work. This means you will have a single point of contact for everything involving electric cars.
You can charge your electric car at three different locations: at home, at the office or on the road.
To get an idea of the typical charging profile of an electric car, please see the table below.
1 - Charging at Home
If you want to charge at home, we can help you keep moving.
When can a charging station be installed in a home? How can one be requested?
The type of electrical network, contracted power capacity, connectivity and type of meter are some of the minimum requirements needed to install a charger at home. However, the main conditioning factor for having a charging station at home is the type of parking.
Regardless of where the driver lives, one of the following situations will apply:
Installing a charging station will be no problem. We just need to verify the technical conditions for the installation.
Authorization must be requested from the condominium association, in order to install the charger. LeasePlan provides a draft template for completing your data. By law, the condominium is obliged to approve this request, unless the required technical conditions for installation are not met.
Authorization will be needed from the property owner and the condominium association in order to install a charging station. This draft is also provided by LeasePlan. Additional installations may be needed in the building’s garage to allow data exchange with the charging station.
The driver will have to use public charging stations near the area of residence, or use a charging station available at the office (if applicable).
2 - Charging at work
Charging your electric car at work has many advantages. For example, the cost of electricity is generally lower than at home or on the road, and it is where we spend the majority of our time.
If you need a charging solution at work, you can count on LeasePlan to put things into motion.
When can a charging station be installed at work? How can one be requested? What does it mean in practical terms? LeasePlan has developed a complete solution. Contact us!
3 - Charging on the road
The EMSP card allows you to charge at any public charging station. To find out the locations of these chargers, simply go to the Mobi.E website, or use apps available on the market, such as the Miio app. LeasePlan will soon be releasing an app that will allow you to charge your vehicle and check the location of public charging stations.
Your charging card gives you access to an extensive network of public charging stations in Portugal. You will always have a charging station nearby!
What types of charging stations are there?
Normal charging
Normal charging stations can charge an electric car, in public or private spaces, at charging speeds of 3.7kW to 22 kW. Costs also vary according to charging speed. Be aware of the maximum charging speed allowed by your car. In other words, if you have a hybrid or electric vehicle which charges up to a maximum of 3.7kW, you should not use a 22 kW station. Apps such as Miio can help you understand which charger is recommended for your vehicle.
Fast charging
Fast charging stations can charge an electric car, in public or private spaces, above 22 kW.
In this case the charging cable is at the station, and you do not need to use the cable that comes with the car. This type of charging, for the most part used for 100% electric vehicles, is ideal for use while travelling, since the charging time is shorter. Nationally, most of these chargers have a charging speed of 50 kW, but there is already equipment available that supports speeds up to 350 kW.
Normal outlet
You can also use the converter that comes with your car to connect to a normal household outlet. In this case, the charging time is quite long, but it is one possibility.
Charging abroad
If you’re going to drive an electric car abroad, be sure to be aware of the country’s charging infrastructures. Make sure your itinerary includes the necessary stops for recharging your car. In addition to the vehicle’s own internal navigation system, there are many apps that can help you arrive at your destination. One example is: A Better Route Planner. In order to charge, you will have to buy special cards or use local apps.
Holiday car
One of the main (potential) concerns of those driving electric vehicles are holidays in faraway locations. Of course, with some planning, travelling to southern Europe in an electric car is completely viable. LeasePlan, however, offers peace of mind with its new service: Holiday car - a fuel-powered car that can be requested for times such as these.
Finding a public charging station near you
How can I charge my electric vehicle?
The battery is the heart of your electric vehicle, so you must take good care of it. When you fill up your car with petrol or diesel, you usually think: "The fuller, the better". In electric vehicles, lithium batteries will last longer if you keep them charged between 20% and 80%.
Although a full charge is not ideal, it’s not the end of the world – so long as you don’t leave your car parked for a long time after a full charge. Fully draining your battery’s charge is also not advisable. If this happens, it is important to recharge your car as soon as possible.
You can charge your electric vehicle at work, at home or on the road. There is an extensive and growing network of electric chargers in Portugal and in Europe (more than 150,000).
If you represent a company, you can address 90% of your drivers’ charging needs by offering chargers at home and at work.
Different chargers offer different charging speeds, although charging time is also influenced by the vehicle’s capacity.
PHEVs charge at speeds of 3.7 kW to 7.5 kW, and as a rule in slow charging. In these types of vehicles, the battery has a capacity of about 10 kWh, so in order to fully charge the battery, which has a charging speed of 3.7 kW, it will take approximately 3 hours.
100% electric cars charge at speeds of 7.5 kWh to 22 kWh or up to 150 kW, depending on the current used – alternating (AC) for slow charging or direct (DC) for fast charging.
For example: a car with a 50 kWh battery, with a charging speed of 22 kW in AC, will take approximately 2.5 hours to charge. If in direct current, with a charging speed of 50 kW, it will take approximately 45 minutes to reach the maximum limit of 80% of battery capacity (in DC, in order to preserve the battery life).
If you move, the equipment can be transferred to your new home, but the deinstallation and installation costs must be paid by you or by the company.
To determine whether buildings have the proper energy capacity, a technical visit will be done by the LeasePlan partner responsible for charger installation.
It is important to meet one of the following conditions:
- single-phase installation with a minimum contracted power of 5.75kVA;
- three-phase installation with a minimum contracted power of 13.8 kVA.
If neither of these power conditions can be met, is important to determine if the capacity can be increased.
Billing will depend on the type of charging solution chosen, which falls into one of two categories:
- Plug & Charge, with no connection to the Mobi.E network: we offer an account settlement wallet solution between the condominium member and the condominium.
- DPC, with a connection to the Mobi.E network: use of an EMSP card which unlocks the charger and allows charging, with all charges done using the card, and not the joint condominium account. This is also the best solution for automatically reimbursing charges between the company and the employee.
For more information, please see the website of our mobility partner Mobi.E. If you have any questions, contact our specialists via e-mail at consultoria@leaseplan.com.
- We analyse cost settlement between the employer and employee.
- The investment in the charging station, electricity and debit card will depend on the situation, and can be included in the cost of renting.
- You will receive only one bill, with the constant guarantee of having a practical, cost-effective solution.
- You will also have a single point of contact for everything involving electric cars.
