A portable EV charger is a mode 2 charging unit that lives in the boot and plugs into whatever socket is available. Between the Juice Booster 2 and the NRGkick 16A, the second is enough for most cars sold in Belgium. And if you always charge in the same place, a reinforced socket costs half as much.
Do you really need a portable charger?
Not if you charge in the same place every night. In that case a reinforced socket or a fixed wallbox does better, for less money.
A portable charger, also called a mobile charger or portable charging station, is a premium mode 2 cable: a control box with a built-in residual current device, a Type 2 cable on the car side and, on the grid side, a system of interchangeable attachments. The mode 2 cable supplied with some cars only knows a household socket. This one also takes industrial CEE sockets, blue for single-phase and red for three-phase, and climbs to 11 or 22 kW when the socket and the car allow it.
It earns its keep in three specific situations. You regularly sleep in a house without a charger, at your parents' in the Condroz or in a second home at the coast. You holiday in cottages and campsites. Or you rent and cannot fix anything to the wall.
Juice Booster 2 against NRGkick 16A, spec sheet against spec sheet
Both units sit in the same niche: Juice Technology is a Swiss company, NRGkick is designed and built in Austria by DiniTech. I have not had either of them in my hands, so the table below mixes nothing up: it takes the official sheets for the Juice Booster 2 and the NRGkick 16A light, checked on 29 October 2026, and the prices shown that same day.
| Criterion | Juice Booster 2 | NRGkick 16A light |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum power | 22 kW (32 A three-phase) | 11 kW (16 A three-phase) |
| Current range | 6 to 32 A | up to 16 A |
| Residual current protection | 30 mA AC, 6 mA DC | AC and 6 mA DC |
| Water and impact rating | IP67, IK10 | IP67, IP69K, IK10 |
| Operating temperature | -30 to +50 °C | -40 to +70 °C |
| App, Wi-Fi | none | paid upgrade |
| Attachments | over 30, recognised automatically | Smart Attachment range, sold separately |
| Price checked on 29/10/2026 | €870.99 (Basic Set, red CEE 32 and Schuko) | €752.04 (unit and two attachments, official site) |
For the Juice, the price comes from GroupSumi.be, a Belgian retailer. The manufacturer's site only shows Swiss francs (CHF 999 for the same set). For the NRGkick, I added up the unit at €560.28, the Schuko attachment at €119.88 and the five-pin CEE 16 A attachment at €71.88, at the official site's prices, including 20% Austrian VAT. At Galaxus.be, the 5 m 16 A kit with three attachments was listed at €889.
One detail on the Juice page made me frown: it advertises "5 m of cable" in its icons and "3.1 m" in its technical data. Measure what you need before ordering, and ask the seller for the exact length.
How much power can you get from a Belgian socket?
Less than the box says, almost always. The charger does not create power: it reads the attachment you plug in, then caps at the weakest link between the socket, the unit and the car's on-board charger. To make it concrete, I worked out the time and cost of putting back 100 km, at 16.5 kWh/100 km with around 10% AC losses, so 18.15 kWh drawn at the meter.
| Socket used | Power | 100 km added | Cost, Flanders | Cost, Brussels | Cost, Wallonia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household socket, cord limited to 10 A | 2.3 kW | 7 h 53 | €5.85 | €6.69 | €6.86 |
| Household socket, NRGkick 13 A Schuko attachment | 3 kW | 6 h 03 | €5.85 | €6.69 | €6.86 |
| Green'Up reinforced socket, 14 A | 3.2 kW | 5 h 40 | €5.85 | €6.69 | €6.86 |
| Blue CEE 16 A single-phase | 3.7 kW | 4 h 54 | €5.85 | €6.69 | €6.86 |
| Red CEE 16 A three-phase, 11 kW car | 11 kW | 1 h 39 | €5.85 | €6.69 | €6.86 |
The costs use the price caps set by the CREG, the federal energy regulator, for the fourth quarter of 2026: 32.25 c€/kWh in Flanders, 36.88 in Brussels, 37.79 in Wallonia. They do not change from one row to the next, and that is the point. A portable charger buys you time, never cheaper kilowatt-hours.
The last row also explains why the Juice's 22 kW rarely matter. On the Belgian new-car market, the vast majority of cars top out at 11 kW on AC. Plugging a Juice into a red 32 A CEE socket with such a car gives 11 kW, exactly like an NRGkick 16A on a red 16 A CEE socket. The 22 kW only materialise with a 22 kW on-board charger, which Renault offers as an option on the Mégane and Scénic E-Tech, and with a 32 A socket at hand, which is rare outside a workshop or a farm.
The built-in 6 mA protection matters more than the kilowatts
Charging electronics can leak a small direct-current fault into the earth that an ordinary type A residual current device does not see. Book 1 of the RGIE, the Belgian electrical installation regulations, in force since 1 April 2026, requires a 30 mA device at the connection point of a charger that still works with a DC component of at least 6 mA.
Both units carry this 6 mA detection, and the Juice states it plainly in its CE data alongside IEC 62752, the standard for mode 2 cables with built-in protection. That is their first selling point, ahead of power. Plugged into a holiday-cottage socket you know nothing about, the unit cuts off on its own a fault the installation might not catch.
This safety net does not turn a tired socket into a new one. Both monitor pin temperature and reduce current when it rises; neither replaces a dedicated circuit or an inspection by a qualified electrician.
Can a portable charger replace a wallbox?
Technically yes, financially rarely. For a garage where the car sleeps every night, the comparison fits in three lines.
- Legrand reinforced socket: €199.95 for the pack and €155 for the inspection, so €354.95 before labour, checked on 19 September 2026 for our reinforced socket guide.
- Juice Booster 2: €870.99, and you still need a suitable socket, fitted and inspected, to get more than 3 kW out of it.
- Smart wall-mounted charger: dearer hardware, but it shares power with the heat pump and the oven, which neither the Juice nor the NRGkick light does on its own. Our ranking of home chargers compares the ones sold here.
In Brussels, a grid detail weighs on the choice. A large part of the Sibelga network runs on 3×230 V without neutral. Yet the Juice sheet only mentions two voltages, 230 V single-phase and 400 V three-phase. On that particular network, ask the manufacturer how the unit behaves before buying, and read our guide to 3×230 V without neutral.
Four mistakes that cost money
- Paying for 22 kW on a car that accepts 11. Check the on-board charger on the manufacturer's sheet, not on the charger's box.
- Buying the unit without the attachments. At NRGkick, the Schuko attachment costs €119.88 and the Type 2 attachment for public charge points €191.88, at the official price of 29 October 2026.
- Adding a garden extension lead to reach the car. Juice sells dedicated extensions up to 25 m; a coiled household extension heats up over eight hours.
- Treating it as a rescue kit. On a household socket, an hour of charging gives back about a dozen kilometres. For a flat battery at the roadside, our guide to running out of charge covers the real options.
My take, once the sheets and prices sit side by side: the NRGkick 16A is the rational choice for a Belgian driver who charges while travelling and at other people's homes, because its 11 kW cover what the car accepts. The Juice Booster 2 makes sense if you drive a 22 kW Renault, if you use workshops fitted with 32 A sockets, or if you want a single object that doubles as a mode 3 cable at public charge points. Juice makes this its "3 in 1" pitch, but with either brand that function needs an extra Type 2 adapter.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a portable charger and the cable that came with the car?
The mode 2 cable supplied with some cars usually only fits a household socket and tops out around 2.3 kW. A portable charger such as the Juice Booster 2 or the NRGkick takes interchangeable attachments, including industrial CEE sockets, and goes up to 11 or 22 kW. It also detects 6 mA DC fault currents.
Can I plug a portable charger into an ordinary Belgian socket?
Yes, with the Schuko attachment, which fits the Belgian socket with its earth pin. Power stays limited, though: 3 kW at most with NRGkick's Schuko attachment, rated at 13 A. The unit monitors the socket temperature and reduces the current if it heats up, but an old socket is still an old socket.
Can a portable charger replace a wallbox?
It can do the job on a CEE socket fitted by an electrician, at 11 kW on a red 16 A three-phase socket. But it does not balance power with the rest of the house, and the socket still has to be installed and inspected. For a fixed spot, a smart wallbox makes more sense.
Do I need a portable charger for holidays?
Only if you sleep somewhere without a charge point: a holiday cottage, the family home, a campsite. On a blue CEE campsite socket, expect 3.7 kW at best, often less if the pitch sits behind a small breaker. For a route with equipped hotels and fast chargers, it will stay in the bag.
Le verdict de Christophe F.
For charging at other people's homes and on holiday, get an NRGkick 16A with the Schuko attachment and a CEE attachment: 11 kW is enough for almost every car sold in Belgium, for around €750 to €890 depending on the seller. The Juice Booster 2, at €870.99, is worth it with a 22 kW car or if you want one object that does everything. And if the car sleeps in the same spot every night, forget both: an inspected reinforced socket costs less than half as much.
