Portugal's Summer EV Charging Boom Signals Easier Road Trips Ahead

For anyone steering an electric car through Portugal this summer, the sheer number of fellow drivers plugging in may already feel different. After years of incremental progress, July quietly became a milestone month: the public charging mesh handled more sessions than ever before, and new rules coming into force promise to make the next road-trip season even smoother.

Record month, record crowd

July closed with 813 000 charging sessions booked on the public network, enough to eclipse the previous high set only a month earlier. Behind that headline sits a jump of 46 % in user activity year-on-year and a hefty 18.7 GWh of electricity delivered. In plain terms, the country’s plugs supplied more energy in 31 days than they did in the entire first quarter of 2023. Roughly 132 000 distinct drivers tapped into the grid during the month – a number already bigger than the resident population of Coimbra – showing that the transition is no longer confined to early adopters living around Lisbon or Porto.

Why it matters if you just moved here

Many expatriates arrive with the assumption that southern Europe trails Northern capitals on e-mobility. Portugal, though, is turning that stereotype on its head. The national network now counts 12 433 live connectors spread across 6 706 sites, and more than 2 620 of those are classified as fast or ultra-fast. Because the system is operated under the Mobi.E umbrella, one RFID card or app typically unlocks every public plug – so the process can be simpler than in Berlin, London or Paris, where roaming agreements are still patchy.

A legal shake-up starting in August

What excites industry insiders even more than July’s numbers is a regulatory makeover that dropped at the start of August. The fresh Regime Jurídico da Mobilidade Elétrica scraps mandatory supply contracts and forces any charger above 50 kW to accept direct card payments or QR codes. For drivers visiting from abroad – or new residents still waiting for a Portuguese bank account – that change removes the last bureaucratic hurdle. Consumer groups also highlight that clear price boards and pay-as-you-go will expose expensive tariffs, encouraging fiercer competition between operators.

Expansion plans far beyond the big cities

The public backbone continues to thicken. Through the government-backed Ruas Elétricas programme, 312 fresh sockets are being installed across 62 municipalities, many of them rural towns where foreign buyers have been snapping up property. At the same time, private players such as EDP Comercial, Galp, Powerdot and newcomer Wowplug are racing to corner motorway service areas. Internal forecasts suggest the country will finish 2025 with 9 000 public points and sprint toward 76 000 by mid-century to comply with the EU’s Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation.

Will you have to queue this holiday?

So far, datasets supplied by Mobi.E show no systematic congestion on the two busiest corridors – Lisbon-Porto via the A1 and Lisbon-Algarve via the A2. Occasional lines do form at popular Tesla Superchargers in Loulé or Alcácer during August weekends, yet Mobi.E’s own chargers rarely register more than a 10-minute wait. The newly introduced “Autocharge” feature from Miio and Powerdot, which starts a session automatically once a vehicle is recognised, aims to shave seconds off each plug-in and cut those queues further.

Can the grid cope?

Behind the scenes, national transmission operator REN and distributor E-REDES say they are preparing for a doubling of public-charging demand by 2030. REN’s patented Speed-E technology taps directly into high-voltage lines to supply hubs without overloading local transformers, while E-REDES is piloting smart-charging algorithms in Lisbon apartment buildings so neighbours can share limited capacity without expensive rewiring. Industry models indicate the network will need about 3 GW of extra distribution capacity this decade – equivalent to building three large gas plants – yet both utilities claim that spreading demand through price signals and off-peak incentives should keep the lights on.

Practical pointers for newcomers

If you have just landed and plan to buy or rent an EV, consider signing up for at least one Portuguese e-mobility app even though ad-hoc card payments are now legal. Local platforms like Miio or Galp Electric still provide real-time status, routing and cost estimates. Home charging at condominium garages is possible, but confirm with the building manager whether the circuit is smart-ready; E-REDES will cover part of the upgrade in certain pilot zones. Finally, keep an eye on off-peak electricity deals from EDP, Endesa and Iberdrola – night-time kWh rates can plunge below €0.10, letting you drive the Lisbon-Porto loop for less than €7 in energy.

Portugal set a fresh record in July, yet the bigger story is the framework now in place to make that record tumble again. For foreign residents, the country’s fast-maturing network means an electric road trip from the Douro valley to the Algarve – or even a daily commute from Cascais – is quickly becoming as routine as topping up a Via-Verde card.