This year the network ceases to be a pilot project and enters the market phase.
“I think we will end the year very probably above 5,000,” Videira told Lusa News Agency. “We’re still talking about relatively small numbers, but they [represent] quite reasonable and sustained growth.”
Figures from Portugal’s tax authority (AT) show that last year there were 4,134 electric vehicles in the country - including mopeds, light passenger vehicles, heavy vehicles, motorcycles, tricycles and quads.
Videira said he was hoping for “a little over” 5,000, given new models coming onto the market that he argued would make such vehicles more attractive.
In the next few weeks, 14 rapid charging stations are to be installed in various cities and on five motorways: the A1, A6, A8, A22 and A23. Charging points are also to be set up in all the country’s municipalities.
By the end of the year there are to be 1,700 regular charging points and 50 fast-charging ones overseen by Mobi.e. The company expects others to be installed by private companies.