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Charging electric vehicles on Portugal’s public grid can be twice as expensive as charging at home, according to a study by the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, which blames “reduced competition” in the market.
“The price of the public network for electric vehicles is similar to the price of fuelling a diesel car, but it would be considerably cheaper if the user only charged it at home,” says the report on the study, which is based on prices in March 2024.
“This high price on the public network could also be exacerbated by the reduced competition in the charging infrastructure market, in which 57% of charging stations are owned by the three largest operators,” the study ‘Electric Mobility in Portugal: Where are we and where are we going?’ carried out in October 2024, reads.
In addition to the cost, “the insufficient charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Portugal, high-speed chargers and, above all, ultra-fast chargers,” is another of the shortcomings mentioned in the study, which shows that “Portugal will not be able to achieve the targets it set itself in the Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality 2050 (RNC2050).”
According to the study, 101 municipalities in Portugal currently lack public fast charging stations, and 231 municipalities lack public ultra-fast charging stations.
“Even in the presence of unrealistic scenarios, such as if the sale of traditional vehicles were banned, or if the market share of electric vehicles in Portugal grew at the rate of Norway, a leader in EV adoption, the targets would not be met,” it says.
The document also states that “it is possible to identify gaps in public policies” on electric mobility.
While acknowledging that “Portugal already has incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles, such as subsidies and tax deductions or exemptions”, it stresses that there is a lack of “support for the installation and maintenance of charging infrastructure on the public network, as offered in other countries with high rates of electric vehicle adoption.
“The only infrastructure support measure is aimed at chargers located in condominiums and has restrictions on the number of chargers that can receive support per condominium,” it explains, adding that “the most effective and consistent support is through infrastructure incentives.”
The report also argues that “support for acquisition shows great variability in results and is not as strong or efficient” and that other support measures, such as toll-free access to motorways and access to priority routes for electric vehicle users, “could be useful and profitable in Portugal.”
“Therefore, there needs to be a shift in the focus of public policies towards incentivising infrastructure,” it adds.
Joana Silva, a professor at Católica-Lisbon, is quoted in the statement as stressing that “Portugal’s progress in the electric vehicle sector is remarkable,” with around 130,000 fully electric vehicles already on the road. However, Portugal will not reach the carbon neutrality targets by 2035 and 2050, even if all new vehicles sold from now on are electric.
Portugal aims to go fully electric by 2050, with an intermediate target of 36% by 2035.
The study ‘Electric Mobility in Portugal: Where are we and where are we going?’ was funded by the Brisa group, which manages most of Portugal’s motorways.
(Jennifer Mota – edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)
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