If you drive electric for work, you charge in two places: at your employer’s car park and at home. How that is arranged differs from company to company. There is no fixed rule, so the first step is to find out what your employer has agreed.
Charging at your employer’s car park
Ask three things. Is charging free or billed? How do you identify yourself: with a card, an app or a badge? And are there limits? Some companies cap the number of hours or kWh, others only allow charging at certain times.
A worked example. Say your commute is 40 km each way and your car uses 18 kWh per 100 km. That is 80 km per working day and about 14.4 kWh (80 × 0.18). On a normal socket at 2.3 kW, that takes more than 6 hours. On an 11 kW charge point you are done in about 1.3 hours. If the car park charges at 3.7 kW, expect around 4 hours. If you do not know the power, ask the facility manager, because it decides whether your car is full by the end of the day.
Charging at home with a company car
Many employers reimburse home charging, but they want to see what you actually used. Go through these points before you start:
- Is home charging reimbursed, and at what amount per kWh? A fixed rate is not the same as your actual price.
- How do you prove your consumption? Options include a wallbox with a calibrated meter, a separate meter or an export from the charger’s app.
- Who installs the wallbox and who owns it? What happens to it if you move or change car?
- How often do you hand in your data: monthly, quarterly?
Another example, assuming 0.30 euro per kWh (check your own contract). You use 14.4 kWh per day, so charging at home costs 4.32 euro a day. Over 220 working days that is 3,168 kWh and roughly 950 euro a year. If your employer reimburses a fixed 0.25 euro, you are left with 0.05 euro per kWh, which is 158 euro a year. On a dynamic contract your real price can also change by the hour. Agree what the employer will use.
The charging card or fuel card
A charging card from your employer works at many public chargers, but not necessarily everywhere. Check whether it also works at home, abroad and at fast chargers, and what the limits are. Can you use it privately? That differs per company. For how cards work, read what is an EV charging card.
Common mistakes
- Charging at home without measuring. Afterwards you cannot prove anything and you miss the reimbursement.
- Assuming the fuel card can be used for private trips. Ask first.
- Leaving your car at a shared charge point all day when it is already full. Move it so colleagues can charge too. More in our charging etiquette.
- Having a wallbox installed before you know who bears the cost if the contract ends.
Tax
The tax rules for company cars and charging infrastructure change regularly. Ask your accountant or employer what applies today, and do not rely on information from a few years ago.
Your own car at work
Do you have a private EV and charge it at work? Then reimbursement is not a given. Agree with your employer how the costs are settled, for example with a rate per kWh. Without an agreement, free charging can turn into a discussion later.
When this does not apply to you
If you have no driveway or home charging, home charging drops out and a refund for public charging matters more. See charging without a driveway. If your employer has no policy, it pays to propose one with a worked example like the one above.
Are you an employer yourself? Read our piece on chargers for your business.