The AdC has identified barriers in the electric vehicle recharging market that may hinder competition and the faster adoption of electric vehicles in Portugal.

The AdC highlights the barriers to entry in the installation and operation of motorway charging points, the complexity of the organizational model and the constraints on the experience of electric vehicle drivers, particularly in terms of price comparison.

This analysis is even more relevant given that electric vehicles have been identified as one of the key technologies for decarbonising the transport sector, which is the sector that contributes most to greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union.

Promoting competition is a crucial tool for ensuring a dense and competitive network of electric vehicle charging infrastructures, making a positive contribution to a sustainable energy economy.

Thenceforth, the AdC puts forward a set of recommendations to the Government and the Municipalities with the aim of promoting competition and efficiency in the electric vehicle recharging network, to the benefit of consumers.

The AdC is submitting the market study on Competition and Electric Vehicle Recharging in Portugal to public consultation, inviting all interested parties to submit comments and/or presentations to the AdC, within 30 working days (until March, 1), to the email address consultapublica@concorrencia.pt.

In replying to this request, we ask that, in view of the legal regime for access to administrative information, you identify the information that you consider confidential, namely because it contains business secrets, attaching, where appropriate, a non-confidential copy of these confidential elements and the respective grounds for confidentiality.

October 15, 2024

The preliminary version of the study was submitted for public consultation between 19 January and 1 March 2024.

This was the AdC's most participated public consultation, which illustrates the high level of interest in this sector. Alongside the opinion of the sector's regulator - ERSE - the AdC received 183 contributions from public entities, individual consumers, consumer associations, operators and associations of companies in the electric mobility sector, entities in the electricity sector and entities from other sectors.

These contributions made it possible to identify additional recommendations and contributed to a more detailed analysis of each of the recommendations.