The average public charger in Belgium sits empty more than half the day. Not because there's no demand — but because supply and demand don't find each other. Someone who needs a charging spot in the morning doesn't know whether one will be free at 9:00 am. So they don't take the risk and charge at home.
Reservations solve that problem. When customers can book a time slot in advance, they take less risk and actually show up. Your charger sits idle less, your revenue rises.
The hidden cost of uncertainty
Uncertainty is the enemy of charging behaviour. Research by Flanders Electric shows that "range anxiety" among EV drivers has more to do with charging infrastructure than with battery capacity. Not "will I make it home?" but "will I find a free charger?"
If you remove that uncertainty with a reservation option, you convert potential customers who would otherwise drive past into paying customers who come to your charger deliberately. That's a direct revenue increase without any extra hardware.
How reservations work in Proxilink
Your customers see a reservation page (on a dedicated URL you can share or put on a QR code) with available time slots. They choose a slot, pay a small reservation fee up front, and are guaranteed a free charger.
As an operator you decide for yourself:
- Which hours you make available for reservations — you can block the rest for your own use
- The reservation fee customers pay in advance (comes straight to you)
- Minimum and maximum reservation duration per slot
Customers who have reserved a slot receive a confirmation with a QR code. On arrival they scan that code to start charging. The charging session itself is billed separately.
Combining private use with rental
A common concern among operators who also use their charger privately: "What if I need my own charger myself?" With Proxilink you simply block the time slots you want to keep for yourself. The remaining hours are made available for reservations.
A practical example: an entrepreneur who uses their charger in the morning and evening makes the hours 10 am–4 pm available for reservations. That's six hours a day, six days a week — 36 potential charging hours per week that would otherwise go unused.
What that yields in practice
Operators who use reservations see an average occupancy increase of 25–35% in the slots they make available. That translates directly into extra kWh revenue and into reservation fees that come on top of the charging income.
On a 22 kW charger charging at an average 60% occupancy in those extra hours:
- 22 kW × 60% × 36 hours/week = 475 kWh extra per week
- At €0.45/kWh = €213 extra per week, or well over €900 per month
Plus the reservation fees on top. These are real figures that Proxilink customers actually achieve.
Reservations are available in all Proxilink plans, starting from the Basic plan (€99/charger/month). Ready to increase your occupancy? Register today — active immediately, cancel monthly.