eMobility key: What is the “sweet spot” for success in the Portuguese market?

The Portuguese eMobility market continues to progress, with 7,211 new electric vehicles (EVs) registered in the first two months of 2025, reflecting an increase of 26.8% compared to the same period last year.

“In January and February, 25% of the cars sold were 100% electric, meaning one in every four new vehicles is already electric,” says António Cunha Pereira, co-CEO of Ecoinside, to Mobility Portal Europe.

He adds: “This translates into over 500 EVs entering the market each month.”

So, what does the Portuguese market need?

According to the expert, the main challenge currently to be addressed is the need to increase the number of public charging points in order to respond to the rapid growth of the EV fleet.

According to data from MOBI.E, on average, there are 90 plugs for every 100 kilometres of road and 122 plugs for every 100,000 inhabitants.

By the end of February, the public charging network had 5,976 stations, corresponding to 11,083 points (outlets that can charge simultaneously).

In addition, around 580,000 recharges were recorded, representing a 45% increase compared to the same month last year.

This represents an opportunity for charging point operators (CPOs) wishing to enter the Portuguese market.

“Public charging points are an urgent need, as many EV owners cannot charge them at home,” explains the Ecoinside representative.

He argues that this occurs because they live in buildings without sufficient electrical infrastructure to install chargers.

In this context, the bottleneck lies in energy infrastructure.

The electricity grid is beginning to show signs of saturation, especially in areas with high demand or in projects requiring fast or ultra-fast charging.

“The ability of the infrastructure to manage this enormous growth in energy demand will be the greatest challenge,” warns Cunha Pereira.

He adds: “The situation becomes even more complicated in the case of fast or ultra-fast chargers, which require power of 200 kilowatts or more.”

The necessary power to enable fast chargers and ultra-fast chargers (up to 800 kilowatts) is not available at all locations.

In fact, the process of connecting to the grid can take up to three years in the case of medium voltage.

For low voltage, the wait is around one year.

Although deadlines in Portugal have recently improved — two years ago, it took between two and three years — the timeframes continue to limit the expansion of new charging hubs.

According to a specialist consulted by Mobility Portal Europe, in many cases, investment in infrastructure may become unfeasible if the medium-voltage grid is too far away.

Why?

If the connection from the medium-voltage line is far from the location where the chargers are to be installed, the construction of the necessary line can incur a high cost.

This additional expenditure can make it difficult to recover the investment over a 15 or 20-year contract.

“There will come a time when, despite the desire to install more public chargers, the capacity of the electricity grid will become an obstacle, and it will not be possible to connect large amounts of energy at all the locations where it is needed,” indicates Cunha Pereira.

According to the co-CEO of Ecoinside, although it is impossible to predict exactly when this will happen, this issue is also present in the photovoltaic sector.

“There are areas where the grid no longer has sufficient capacity to receive the energy generated by solar systems,” he explains.

He emphasises: “Resolving this will require multi-million euro investments to modernise and reinforce the electricity infrastructure across the country.”

And that’s not all.

The use of public space is another source of conflict.

In cities with high service density and commercial activities, competition for land use intensifies.

“In areas with restaurants, if parking spaces are allocated exclusively for EV charging, there may be conflicts with people who simply want to park to go eat,” he asserts.

There are also regulatory barriers.

Cunha Pereira details that regulations in Portugal are quite stringent, which could hinder the expansion of the sector.

What does he propose?

“Ideally, the process should be simpler, allowing drivers to arrive at a charging station, plug in their vehicle, pay by credit card or any other payment method, and continue their journey,” he suggests.

However, he notes that currently there are too many entities involved in the management of information, “which complicates operations.”

What are the opportunities for the Portuguese eMobility sector?

In the locations where Ecoinside operates, demand nearly doubled when comparing the start of 2024 with the first two months of 2025.

“The increase in the use of chargers is evident and, with 25% of new cars being 100% electric, demand is expected to continue rising,” he states.

The government is also expected to launch an incentive programme for the purchase of EVs.

This will offer a 4,000 euros grant for the acquisition of a new vehicle, provided the buyer delivers an internal combustion vehicle older than 10 years.

Thanks to this measure, in addition to people already purchasing EVs, there will be an additional group taking advantage of this subsidy.

“This is likely to raise the market share of EVs, currently at 25%, to 30% or even 35%,” he assures.

He emphasises: “The electric mobility market is at a key expansion point, and we believe we entered the sector at the optimal time.”

At this point, it is worth noting that Ecoinside has been operating in the eMobility industry since 2021.

In this context, he highlights that recently a company with more experience in the market reached out to them to offer the sale of their charging points.

“They have probably made long-term investments without yet achieving the expected return,” explains Cunha Pereira.

He concludes: “This reinforces our belief that we had a very good analysis of where the sweet spot was for entering this sector.”

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