Charging in Portugal: (almost) everything you need to know!

[tchavei]

Charging in Portugal

I'm posting this in hope it will help some fellow portuguese EV newbie to save some time investigating and obviously also for any foreigners that wish to come over to Portugal for some holidays or even just a roadtrip in their Taycans so hopefully they don't end up stranded)

Glossary:

CEME = Comercializadores de Eletricidade para a Mobilidade Elétrica (ruffly translated into comercial entity that sells electricity for electric mobility)
IEC = Imposto Especial sobre Consumo (Special Tax over Consumption, whatever that is)
IVA = Same as VAT (Value Added Tax)
OPC = Operador Posto de Carregamento (in simple words, the company that installed and maintains a specific charging station)
PCN = Posto Carregamento Normal (Slow charging station <= 22kW (AC))
PCR = Posto carregamento Rápido (Fast charging stations > 22kW (DC))
TAR = Taxa de Acesso à Rede (The Mobi.e fee to access the network)
UVE = Utilizador de Veículo Elétrico (Eletric Vehicle User... basically us)

Chapter 1: The Portuguese Charging Network

Contrary to most (all?) european countries, Portugal has unified its charging network under a single entity called "Mobi.E", created in 2015 and which started operation in 2020. What does this mean? I'll spare you all the legal details and clauses but basically, in simple words: Any PCN/R that is publicly acessible (this includes PCN/Rs on private grounds. More on this later), must be connected to this network. Being connected to the network, means that any PCN/R must accept any CEME card.
The idea behind this, which, until today, is still rather polemic and under debate, was to avoid that any OPC could force its users to use its own charging card with its own prices, creating a monopoly. This way, OPC are forced to compete among themselves as they don't control the energy price. On the other hand, the CEMEs compete between themselves too as they don't control the OPC prices. Of course, to add even more confusion, a company can register itself as both CEME and OPC but still, as both OPCs and CEMEs are forbidden to discriminate prices based on each other, in theory, the system should provide a fair playground (Many argue it doesn't and that the Mobi.e overhead is just a way of charging extra. I'll refrain of taking sides here).

Chapter 2: How much does it cost to charge in Portugal

Don't laugh. Nobody really knows (at the time of charge, at least). You can get an idea but you'll only know for certain at the end of the month. Wait... at the end of month?!?
Yes. With the exception of 2 or 3 CEME that allow you to pay directly through a credit card (or prepay/top up your account before actually charging), the rest works with monthly contracts. This means that you can charge the whole month and only get billed by end of month from each CEME you used (more on this later). Usually it works with direct debit so they just get the money from your bank. To avoid surprises, the CEME usually gives you a plafond of €300/month before they compulsively bill you. This means that if you intend to rip off a CEME, you won't be able to rip them off over that amount and you probably still end in debts and court if you don't pay.

So why is it so complicated to know how much you're paying at a charging station? Well. First of, remember CEMEs compete between each other so the price per kW will vary not only among CEME but also throughout the day/night. At any given time, one CEME will be cheaper then the next. Some have a flat rate, others don't. Since each person (UVE) can have as many contracts as they wish, and since the contract doesn't cost them anything, many UVE (me included) have contracts with 6,7,8 or even 10 CEME at once. The UVE just chooses the cheapest CEME at the moment (or one that works. Sometimes cards/apps fail). On the other hand, OPC don't treat their charging stations as equal. They usually charge per minute but a PCR in a high profile area might be more expensive than one in a more hidden place. To add to the mess, the final price is composed of several parcels like:

CEME: Activation fee + €/kWh + €/min (if applicable)
OPC: Activation fee + €/kWh + €/min (if applicable)
TAR: Connection fee to the Mobi.e network (currently, this fee is negative i.e. Mobi.e pays for you to access the network. Will certainly change in the future)
IEC: Special Tax over Consumption

Then you have to add VAT to the whole thing and you get the final price.

As an example (27th February 2023, 12:23, random 50kW PCR in Southern Portugal):

Your Taycan is at 20% and you intend to charge it up to 85% there:

Estimated time: 1h
Amount to charge: 51.5kWh
Price using CEME "Miio": €16.70
Price using CEME "ViaVerde": €11.57
Price using CEME "EVIO": €14.00

If we analyse, for example, the "ViaVerde" option, we get:

CEME: activation fee = €0.706 + €0.1616/kWh
OPC: €0.08/minute
TAR: -€3.97
IEC: €0.05
IVA: €2.16

Messy huh? Yes, it is. It's humanly impossible to do all that math while you're trying to decide which app or card you should swipe at any given time. This is the user's major gripe with this system.

There's however, a trick. Miio is a portuguese startup company that made a terrific app that does all the math for you. Not only for their own prices but of all competitors too! So with a couple of taps, you can know, at any given time, which CEME in combination with the present OPC is the cheapest. It also gives you transparently prices for all CEME plans you select. I STRONGLY recommend you to download and install the Miio app the moment you step foot in this country. You don't have to use their services (albeit they support credit card charging so a godsend to foreigners) but they allow you to know what CEME to use to charge up at any given moment in time.

Chapter 3: I'm a foreigner. I don't care about your mess. I just want to charge in Portugal when I'm on a road trip.

Fair enough. All you need is a CEME that accepts credit cards instead of contracts. At this moment, only Miio or EVIO support "pay as you go" without making a contract. They're might not be the cheapest choice but they work and when you're on holidays, that's what matters: To be able to charge and move on. The portuguese system is at advantage here because once you have either app installed, you can charge at ANY Mobi.e connected charging station regardless of brand/OPC. They all should work.

Chapter 4: IONITY Network and Porsche card in Portugal

Now this is also funny. Porsche isn't registered as CEME here. This means they can't sell electricity nor the service. This also means they can't charge you if you go to a dealership and use one of their 350kW charging stations. Cool eh?

However, one wonders why they don't register as a CEME and/or OPC... after all, they're losing money right? Well, remember chapter 1? "Any PCN/R that is publicly acessible (this includes PCN/Rs on private grounds)"? You got it... The moment Porsche registers as a CEME and/or OPC, they have to comply with Mobi.e rules which include a) open to anyone who wishes to charge (imagine a queue of Honda-E, Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe inside Porsche's Dealership premises), b) their chargers must allow any CEME (so who get's the biggest cut is the selected CEME, not them) and c) they have to be open for 24/7. All in all, I suspect Porsche has been evaluating the pros and cons of registering and for now, the cons are bigger than the pros.

So what about those 3 years of reduced prices on IONITY stations in Portugal? Porsche solved it by making a deal with a CEME/OPC. "Iberdrola" is a spanish multinational OPC/CEME and they provide a Porsche/Iberdrola card for Taycan owners. Their tariffs are rather expensive so I wouldn't recommend using the card on any charging station except IONITY where you'll be only charged by kWh and not per minute while using the card.

Chapter 5: Curiosities

This chapter is rather about the odd curiosities you can only find here in Portugal. There are two currently:

- Tesla Charging Network: They appeared way before Mobi.e was a thing. The moment Mobi.e became active in 2020, the Tesla Charging Network became "illegal" because it doesn't follow Mobi.e rules. That's also the reason that Tesla, contrary to what happens in other european countries, can't or won't open its network to other car manufacturers here. They would need to also open hand on the CEME meaning that any card would have to work on Tesla's superchargers and as an OPC, they can't discriminate between someone using a Tesla card and another using a "Bluecharge" Card, for example. Apparently the portuguese government is in negotiations with Tesla and they announced they should have a "solution" that will allow tesla to operate openly and integrated in the portuguese network by end of 2023... we'll see.

- Continente Charging Network: It's a multinational supermarket chain that installed charging stations underground in their parks. You can only charge at them using a customer card and they have special prices and discounts when you buy a certain amount of products at their store while you charge. They found somekind of loophole because they don't appear to be connected to the Mobi.e network. I haven't investigated that much into this but I'm certain that their status will have to be clarified soon because they aren't following countrywide rules at the moment.

I hope this will help someone.

Good luck

Sponsored

 

[Fish Fingers]

I doubt I will be driving my Taycan in your country, but I do love the place and visit as often as possible (generally we stay near Cascais once or twice a year).

It surprises me how few EV's there are over there.

I was also disappointed to see the Golden Visa is going to be scrapped.

Very useful write-up for anyone visiting though.

 

[Scandinavian]

Using and charge planning with an EV can be frustrating enough, without the extra complications you seem to have in Portugal.

We have planned a trip to s one friends near Porto, but think it will be in an ICE car.

 

[tchavei]

Using and charge planning with an EV can be frustrating enough, without the extra complications you seem to have in Portugal.

We have planned a trip to s one friends near Porto, but think it will be in an ICE car.

I don't really know. It feels overwhelming but if you look at it from a practical perspective, you only have to install Miio and/or Evio apps, register, add a credit card and you have access to the entire charging network (5000+ charging points).

Without either of the apps, you'll get stranded for sure.

Now compare this to, for example, Spain (I've been reading up on this since I live close to the border and often drive to Huelva or Seville). As a foreigner, I don't know much about the network but I know that if I make a contract with Iberdrola, for example, I'll only have access to iberdrola controlled charging points. What if the charger station is from Walea? I'll need to call them and figure out if they let me register and use those. What about other chargers? Repsol comes to mind. I mean, yeah maybe it's more transparent as you know exactly what you're paying but I think it's like a bunch of isolated networks. You'll have to download/register with each network as you need to use them. I'm already sweating just thinking I might need to charge over there?

Maybe some Spanish member of the forum makes a similar post to mine and explains their system and how a foreigner can make best use of it. That would be awesome.

Actually, if we all did this for each country it would be spectacular.

 

[tchavei]

I doubt I will be driving my Taycan in your country, but I do love the place and visit as often as possible (generally we stay near Cascais once or twice a year).

It surprises me how few EV's there are over there.

I was also disappointed to see the Golden Visa is going to be scrapped.

Very useful write-up for anyone visiting though.

Eh, I wouldn't worry that much. Before they scrape golden visas, a lot of water will go under the bridge as we say

Regarding EVs, it's been exponential lately. Seems people took a while to pick up but I've been seeing Teslas and other brands everywhere lately. Don't forget the average income is rather low and EVs have a hefty price tag compared to diesel cars (which are very loved around here because of the economy and diesel to gas price ratio)

 

[Scandinavian]

I don't really know. It feels overwhelming but if you look at it from a practical perspective, you only have to install Miio and/or Evio apps, register, add a credit card and you have access to the entire charging network (5000+ charging points).

Without either of the apps, you'll get stranded for sure.

Now compare this to, for example, Spain (I've been reading up on this since I live close to the border and often drive to Huelva or Seville). As a foreigner, I don't know much about the network but I know that if I make a contract with Iberdrola, for example, I'll only have access to iberdrola controlled charging points. What if the charger station is from Walea? I'll need to call them and figure out if they let me register and use those. What about other chargers? Repsol comes to mind. I mean, yeah maybe it's more transparent as you know exactly what you're paying but I think it's like a bunch of isolated networks. You'll have to download/register with each network as you need to use them. I'm already sweating just thinking I might need to charge over there?

Maybe some Spanish member of the forum makes a similar post to mine and explains their system and how a foreigner can make best use of it. That would be awesome.

Actually, if we all did this for each country it would be spectacular.

That is a very valid point about easy access to different networks. But still complicated with extra registrations etc.

 

[tchavei]

That is a very valid point about easy access to different networks. But still complicated with extra registrations etc.

Indeed but if you could just swipe the CC, it would allow a lot of bad things happen too. I'm not defending the system by any means but I do recognise that it has some advantages.

It doesn't discriminate users that don't have credit cards, it completely kills the possibility of one single company planting its chargers everywhere and then rise prices to whatever it feels like, wiping the competition and it forces companies to follow certain rules.

On the other hand, it would be so much easier to just swipe the cc and charge (not sure about the prices though).

Currently, on weekends, I could "fill up" a Taycan, in about an hour, at IKEA with Miio for around €4. That's because IKEA as OPC is only charging 1 cent per minute (they want people near their stores) and Miio is cheaper on Weekends.

BTW, forgot to add. As general rule: the faster you charge here, the cheaper it gets. Avoid < 22kW as much as possible. You'll pay 3x or 4x as much.

 

[Hugo]

Charging in Portugal

I'm posting this in hope it will help some fellow portuguese EV newbie to save some time investigating and obviously also for any foreigners that wish to come over to Portugal for some holidays or even just a roadtrip in their Taycans so hopefully they don't end up stranded)

Glossary:

CEME = Comercializadores de Eletricidade para a Mobilidade Elétrica (ruffly translated into comercial entity that sells electricity for electric mobility)
IEC = Imposto Especial sobre Consumo (Special Tax over Consumption, whatever that is)
IVA = Same as VAT (Value Added Tax)
OPC = Operador Posto de Carregamento (in simple words, the company that installed and maintains a specific charging station)
PCN = Posto Carregamento Normal (Slow charging station <= 22kW (AC))
PCR = Posto carregamento Rápido (Fast charging stations > 22kW (DC))
TAR = Taxa de Acesso à Rede (The Mobi.e fee to access the network)
UVE = Utilizador de Veículo Elétrico (Eletric Vehicle User... basically us)

Chapter 1: The Portuguese Charging Network

Contrary to most (all?) european countries, Portugal has unified its charging network under a single entity called "Mobi.E", created in 2015 and which started operation in 2020. What does this mean? I'll spare you all the legal details and clauses but basically, in simple words: Any PCN/R that is publicly acessible (this includes PCN/Rs on private grounds. More on this later), must be connected to this network. Being connected to the network, means that any PCN/R must accept any CEME card.
The idea behind this, which, until today, is still rather polemic and under debate, was to avoid that any OPC could force its users to use its own charging card with its own prices, creating a monopoly. This way, OPC are forced to compete among themselves as they don't control the energy price. On the other hand, the CEMEs compete between themselves too as they don't control the OPC prices. Of course, to add even more confusion, a company can register itself as both CEME and OPC but still, as both OPCs and CEMEs are forbidden to discriminate prices based on each other, in theory, the system should provide a fair playground (Many argue it doesn't and that the Mobi.e overhead is just a way of charging extra. I'll refrain of taking sides here).

Chapter 2: How much does it cost to charge in Portugal

Don't laugh. Nobody really knows (at the time of charge, at least). You can get an idea but you'll only know for certain at the end of the month. Wait... at the end of month?!?
Yes. With the exception of 2 or 3 CEME that allow you to pay directly through a credit card (or prepay/top up your account before actually charging), the rest works with monthly contracts. This means that you can charge the whole month and only get billed by end of month from each CEME you used (more on this later). Usually it works with direct debit so they just get the money from your bank. To avoid surprises, the CEME usually gives you a plafond of €300/month before they compulsively bill you. This means that if you intend to rip off a CEME, you won't be able to rip them off over that amount and you probably still end in debts and court if you don't pay.

So why is it so complicated to know how much you're paying at a charging station? Well. First of, remember CEMEs compete between each other so the price per kW will vary not only among CEME but also throughout the day/night. At any given time, one CEME will be cheaper then the next. Some have a flat rate, others don't. Since each person (UVE) can have as many contracts as they wish, and since the contract doesn't cost them anything, many UVE (me included) have contracts with 6,7,8 or even 10 CEME at once. The UVE just chooses the cheapest CEME at the moment (or one that works. Sometimes cards/apps fail). On the other hand, OPC don't treat their charging stations as equal. They usually charge per minute but a PCR in a high profile area might be more expensive than one in a more hidden place. To add to the mess, the final price is composed of several parcels like:

CEME: Activation fee + €/kWh + €/min (if applicable)
OPC: Activation fee + €/kWh + €/min (if applicable)
TAR: Connection fee to the Mobi.e network (currently, this fee is negative i.e. Mobi.e pays for you to access the network. Will certainly change in the future)
IEC: Special Tax over Consumption

Then you have to add VAT to the whole thing and you get the final price.

As an example (27th February 2023, 12:23, random 50kW PCR in Southern Portugal):

Your Taycan is at 20% and you intend to charge it up to 85% there:

Estimated time: 1h
Amount to charge: 51.5kWh
Price using CEME "Miio": €16.70
Price using CEME "ViaVerde": €11.57
Price using CEME "EVIO": €14.00

If we analyse, for example, the "ViaVerde" option, we get:

CEME: activation fee = €0.706 + €0.1616/kWh
OPC: €0.08/minute
TAR: -€3.97
IEC: €0.05
IVA: €2.16

Messy huh? Yes, it is. It's humanly impossible to do all that math while you're trying to decide which app or card you should swipe at any given time. This is the user's major gripe with this system.

There's however, a trick. Miio is a portuguese startup company that made a terrific app that does all the math for you. Not only for their own prices but of all competitors too! So with a couple of taps, you can know, at any given time, which CEME in combination with the present OPC is the cheapest. It also gives you transparently prices for all CEME plans you select. I STRONGLY recommend you to download and install the Miio app the moment you step foot in this country. You don't have to use their services (albeit they support credit card charging so a godsend to foreigners) but they allow you to know what CEME to use to charge up at any given moment in time.

Chapter 3: I'm a foreigner. I don't care about your mess. I just want to charge in Portugal when I'm on a road trip.

Fair enough. All you need is a CEME that accepts credit cards instead of contracts. At this moment, only Miio or EVIO support "pay as you go" without making a contract. They're might not be the cheapest choice but they work and when you're on holidays, that's what matters: To be able to charge and move on. The portuguese system is at advantage here because once you have either app installed, you can charge at ANY Mobi.e connected charging station regardless of brand/OPC. They all should work.

Chapter 4: IONITY Network and Porsche card in Portugal

Now this is also funny. Porsche isn't registered as CEME here. This means they can't sell electricity nor the service. This also means they can't charge you if you go to a dealership and use one of their 350kW charging stations. Cool eh?

However, one wonders why they don't register as a CEME and/or OPC... after all, they're losing money right? Well, remember chapter 1? "Any PCN/R that is publicly acessible (this includes PCN/Rs on private grounds)"? You got it... The moment Porsche registers as a CEME and/or OPC, they have to comply with Mobi.e rules which include a) open to anyone who wishes to charge (imagine a queue of Honda-E, Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe inside Porsche's Dealership premises), b) their chargers must allow any CEME (so who get's the biggest cut is the selected CEME, not them) and c) they have to be open for 24/7. All in all, I suspect Porsche has been evaluating the pros and cons of registering and for now, the cons are bigger than the pros.

So what about those 3 years of reduced prices on IONITY stations in Portugal? Porsche solved it by making a deal with a CEME/OPC. "Iberdrola" is a spanish multinational OPC/CEME and they provide a Porsche/Iberdrola card for Taycan owners. Their tariffs are rather expensive so I wouldn't recommend using the card on any charging station except IONITY where you'll be only charged by kWh and not per minute while using the card.

Chapter 5: Curiosities

This chapter is rather about the odd curiosities you can only find here in Portugal. There are two currently:

- Tesla Charging Network: They appeared way before Mobi.e was a thing. The moment Mobi.e became active in 2020, the Tesla Charging Network became "illegal" because it doesn't follow Mobi.e rules. That's also the reason that Tesla, contrary to what happens in other european countries, can't or won't open its network to other car manufacturers here. They would need to also open hand on the CEME meaning that any card would have to work on Tesla's superchargers and as an OPC, they can't discriminate between someone using a Tesla card and another using a "Bluecharge" Card, for example. Apparently the portuguese government is in negotiations with Tesla and they announced they should have a "solution" that will allow tesla to operate openly and integrated in the portuguese network by end of 2023... we'll see.

- Continente Charging Network: It's a multinational supermarket chain that installed charging stations underground in their parks. You can only charge at them using a customer card and they have special prices and discounts when you buy a certain amount of products at their store while you charge. They found somekind of loophole because they don't appear to be connected to the Mobi.e network. I haven't investigated that much into this but I'm certain that their status will have to be clarified soon because they aren't following countrywide rules at the moment.

I hope this will help someone.

Good luck

Uau! That’s what I call some pretty nice public service!

Thank you very much for your amazing post. I’m also Portuguese and to be honest, I was completely lost in this crazy Portuguese price/ invoice set up.

Again, thank you and great post!

 

[Pmfmagalhaes]

Charging in Portugal

I'm posting this in hope it will help some fellow portuguese EV newbie to save some time investigating and obviously also for any foreigners that wish to come over to Portugal for some holidays or even just a roadtrip in their Taycans so hopefully they don't end up stranded)

Glossary:

CEME = Comercializadores de Eletricidade para a Mobilidade Elétrica (ruffly translated into comercial entity that sells electricity for electric mobility)
IEC = Imposto Especial sobre Consumo (Special Tax over Consumption, whatever that is)
IVA = Same as VAT (Value Added Tax)
OPC = Operador Posto de Carregamento (in simple words, the company that installed and maintains a specific charging station)
PCN = Posto Carregamento Normal (Slow charging station <= 22kW (AC))
PCR = Posto carregamento Rápido (Fast charging stations > 22kW (DC))
TAR = Taxa de Acesso à Rede (The Mobi.e fee to access the network)
UVE = Utilizador de Veículo Elétrico (Eletric Vehicle User... basically us)

Chapter 1: The Portuguese Charging Network

Contrary to most (all?) european countries, Portugal has unified its charging network under a single entity called "Mobi.E", created in 2015 and which started operation in 2020. What does this mean? I'll spare you all the legal details and clauses but basically, in simple words: Any PCN/R that is publicly acessible (this includes PCN/Rs on private grounds. More on this later), must be connected to this network. Being connected to the network, means that any PCN/R must accept any CEME card.
The idea behind this, which, until today, is still rather polemic and under debate, was to avoid that any OPC could force its users to use its own charging card with its own prices, creating a monopoly. This way, OPC are forced to compete among themselves as they don't control the energy price. On the other hand, the CEMEs compete between themselves too as they don't control the OPC prices. Of course, to add even more confusion, a company can register itself as both CEME and OPC but still, as both OPCs and CEMEs are forbidden to discriminate prices based on each other, in theory, the system should provide a fair playground (Many argue it doesn't and that the Mobi.e overhead is just a way of charging extra. I'll refrain of taking sides here).

Chapter 2: How much does it cost to charge in Portugal

Don't laugh. Nobody really knows (at the time of charge, at least). You can get an idea but you'll only know for certain at the end of the month. Wait... at the end of month?!?
Yes. With the exception of 2 or 3 CEME that allow you to pay directly through a credit card (or prepay/top up your account before actually charging), the rest works with monthly contracts. This means that you can charge the whole month and only get billed by end of month from each CEME you used (more on this later). Usually it works with direct debit so they just get the money from your bank. To avoid surprises, the CEME usually gives you a plafond of €300/month before they compulsively bill you. This means that if you intend to rip off a CEME, you won't be able to rip them off over that amount and you probably still end in debts and court if you don't pay.

So why is it so complicated to know how much you're paying at a charging station? Well. First of, remember CEMEs compete between each other so the price per kW will vary not only among CEME but also throughout the day/night. At any given time, one CEME will be cheaper then the next. Some have a flat rate, others don't. Since each person (UVE) can have as many contracts as they wish, and since the contract doesn't cost them anything, many UVE (me included) have contracts with 6,7,8 or even 10 CEME at once. The UVE just chooses the cheapest CEME at the moment (or one that works. Sometimes cards/apps fail). On the other hand, OPC don't treat their charging stations as equal. They usually charge per minute but a PCR in a high profile area might be more expensive than one in a more hidden place. To add to the mess, the final price is composed of several parcels like:

CEME: Activation fee + €/kWh + €/min (if applicable)
OPC: Activation fee + €/kWh + €/min (if applicable)
TAR: Connection fee to the Mobi.e network (currently, this fee is negative i.e. Mobi.e pays for you to access the network. Will certainly change in the future)
IEC: Special Tax over Consumption

Then you have to add VAT to the whole thing and you get the final price.

As an example (27th February 2023, 12:23, random 50kW PCR in Southern Portugal):

Your Taycan is at 20% and you intend to charge it up to 85% there:

Estimated time: 1h
Amount to charge: 51.5kWh
Price using CEME "Miio": €16.70
Price using CEME "ViaVerde": €11.57
Price using CEME "EVIO": €14.00

If we analyse, for example, the "ViaVerde" option, we get:

CEME: activation fee = €0.706 + €0.1616/kWh
OPC: €0.08/minute
TAR: -€3.97
IEC: €0.05
IVA: €2.16

Messy huh? Yes, it is. It's humanly impossible to do all that math while you're trying to decide which app or card you should swipe at any given time. This is the user's major gripe with this system.

There's however, a trick. Miio is a portuguese startup company that made a terrific app that does all the math for you. Not only for their own prices but of all competitors too! So with a couple of taps, you can know, at any given time, which CEME in combination with the present OPC is the cheapest. It also gives you transparently prices for all CEME plans you select. I STRONGLY recommend you to download and install the Miio app the moment you step foot in this country. You don't have to use their services (albeit they support credit card charging so a godsend to foreigners) but they allow you to know what CEME to use to charge up at any given moment in time.

Chapter 3: I'm a foreigner. I don't care about your mess. I just want to charge in Portugal when I'm on a road trip.

Fair enough. All you need is a CEME that accepts credit cards instead of contracts. At this moment, only Miio or EVIO support "pay as you go" without making a contract. They're might not be the cheapest choice but they work and when you're on holidays, that's what matters: To be able to charge and move on. The portuguese system is at advantage here because once you have either app installed, you can charge at ANY Mobi.e connected charging station regardless of brand/OPC. They all should work.

Chapter 4: IONITY Network and Porsche card in Portugal

Now this is also funny. Porsche isn't registered as CEME here. This means they can't sell electricity nor the service. This also means they can't charge you if you go to a dealership and use one of their 350kW charging stations. Cool eh?

However, one wonders why they don't register as a CEME and/or OPC... after all, they're losing money right? Well, remember chapter 1? "Any PCN/R that is publicly acessible (this includes PCN/Rs on private grounds)"? You got it... The moment Porsche registers as a CEME and/or OPC, they have to comply with Mobi.e rules which include a) open to anyone who wishes to charge (imagine a queue of Honda-E, Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe inside Porsche's Dealership premises), b) their chargers must allow any CEME (so who get's the biggest cut is the selected CEME, not them) and c) they have to be open for 24/7. All in all, I suspect Porsche has been evaluating the pros and cons of registering and for now, the cons are bigger than the pros.

So what about those 3 years of reduced prices on IONITY stations in Portugal? Porsche solved it by making a deal with a CEME/OPC. "Iberdrola" is a spanish multinational OPC/CEME and they provide a Porsche/Iberdrola card for Taycan owners. Their tariffs are rather expensive so I wouldn't recommend using the card on any charging station except IONITY where you'll be only charged by kWh and not per minute while using the card.

Chapter 5: Curiosities

This chapter is rather about the odd curiosities you can only find here in Portugal. There are two currently:

- Tesla Charging Network: They appeared way before Mobi.e was a thing. The moment Mobi.e became active in 2020, the Tesla Charging Network became "illegal" because it doesn't follow Mobi.e rules. That's also the reason that Tesla, contrary to what happens in other european countries, can't or won't open its network to other car manufacturers here. They would need to also open hand on the CEME meaning that any card would have to work on Tesla's superchargers and as an OPC, they can't discriminate between someone using a Tesla card and another using a "Bluecharge" Card, for example. Apparently the portuguese government is in negotiations with Tesla and they announced they should have a "solution" that will allow tesla to operate openly and integrated in the portuguese network by end of 2023... we'll see.

- Continente Charging Network: It's a multinational supermarket chain that installed charging stations underground in their parks. You can only charge at them using a customer card and they have special prices and discounts when you buy a certain amount of products at their store while you charge. They found somekind of loophole because they don't appear to be connected to the Mobi.e network. I haven't investigated that much into this but I'm certain that their status will have to be clarified soon because they aren't following countrywide rules at the moment.

I hope this will help someone.

Good luck

Fantastic write up! I'm living in Amsterdam but am Portuguese and planning to drive down to Portugal with the Taycan for the first time and this was my first priority to start investigating since I am hearing indeed some horror stories from friends and family, but clearly there's light in all that darkness!
Thank you so much!

 

[Wawando]

Hi,
I have just arrived from a trip from Germany to Portugal, crossing Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal.
The experience is:
Germany and France: full throttle, just stop in any station and charge at 260kw/h with plug and charge or credit card swipe.

Spanish part from French border to Madrid, same, stop and charge with credit card.
When you arrive at Madrid, everything changes! Available charging points require Spanish registration and the only available fast charging we found in the center of Madrid dies not even allow the app to be installed if you do not have a Spanish appstore account(!).

I saw big charging stations being built but they are not available except ionity ones that work with ionity app but no Porsche Charging integration (or maybe it just didn't work when I charged).

About prices: charging in France 0,3 eur/kW in ultra fast charging, amazing!
Charging cost is much higher in Spain or Portugal (Ionity Merida, 0.64 eur/kw, same Ionity Estremoz).

One question: Porsche charge destination should be free for us Taycan owners or not?

 

[tchavei]

Hi,
I have just arrived from a trip from Germany to Portugal, crossing Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal.
The experience is:
Germany and France: full throttle, just stop in any station and charge at 260kw/h with plug and charge or credit card swipe.

Spanish part from French border to Madrid, same, stop and charge with credit card.
When you arrive at Madrid, everything changes! Available charging points require Spanish registration and the only available fast charging we found in the center of Madrid dies not even allow the app to be installed if you do not have a Spanish appstore account(!).

I saw big charging stations being built but they are not available except ionity ones that work with ionity app but no Porsche Charging integration (or maybe it just didn't work when I charged).

About prices: charging in France 0,3 eur/kW in ultra fast charging, amazing!
Charging cost is much higher in Spain or Portugal (Ionity Merida, 0.64 eur/kw, same Ionity Estremoz).

One question: Porsche charge destination should be free for us Taycan owners or not?

Ionity is expensive if not activated with Porsche card in Portugal. I was never charged at Ionity Spain for some weird reason.

The rest is quite cheaper. usually under 0.3/Kwh if you have the right contracts.

 

[Wawando]

Ionity is expensive if not activated with Porsche card in Portugal. I was never charged at Ionity Spain for some weird reason.

The rest is quite cheaper. usually under 0.3/Kwh if you have the right contracts.

Do you know if Porsche plug and charge works in Portugal like it does in France? It did not work in Spain, I had to use the Ionity app.
I cannot get those prices, see this quick test I did with Iberdrola:

and in France I had this:

 

[tchavei]

Do you know if Porsche plug and charge works in Portugal like it does in France? It did not work in Spain, I had to use the Ionity app.
I cannot get those prices, see this quick test I did with Iberdrola:

and in France I had this:

Plug and Charge isn't supported in Portugal by design. Read my initial post. Every charging station has to support every energy provider. The user must be free to choose any energy provider he wishes independent of charger. Plug and charge locks you to a specific energy provider.

All Porsche destination Chargers are free. In Portugal, you can charge for free at any Porsche Dealership too (They never registered as charging nor energy providers here)

Btw, plug and charge works in Spain. I've charged using it everywhere I went aka Ionity between Huelva and Seville and Walea stations at Seville and further south when headed to Gibraltar. If porsche doesn't have an agreement with a certain provider in spain, then you're locked out of their network. That's the downside vs the Portuguese model where any contract will allow you to use any charger. The disadvantage is that you need to find the best contract. For foreigners passing by, you're limited to Miio and Evio which are the only ones accepting pay as you go by credit card and are generally more expensive then national contracts.

 

[Scandinavian]

About prices: charging in France 0,3 eur/kW in ultra fast charging, amazing!
Charging cost is much higher in Spain or Portugal (Ionity Merida, 0.64 eur/kw, same Ionity Estremoz).

Sorry to hear that you had trouble with Ionity in Spain.
My car is one of the early ones and I do not have plug and charge. With the car I have the Porsche Charging Service card and the MyPorsche app. I have become so used to use these, that it feels natural now. Both come free with a new car to give access to chargers in the network for 3 years.

I saw you used the Ionity app, but then you will not avail of the very competitive Ionity pricing in the Porsche Charging Service. But the pricing of Ionity in Spain is the same as in France, if you check the app.

As explained by OP here, Portugal is a completely different experience!

See screen shot of the rates in Spain! And Iberdrola should also work fine??

 

[Wawando]

So I called Porsche Charge to clarify these questions and they told me:
Porsche Charging Card simply does not work in Portugal neither in the stations nor at Porsche Destination. They are working to sort things out until the end of the month. Until then if you want to charge your Taycan you can go to amPorsche dealer or pay with the provider, even in Porsche Destination stations(!).

ilI was not lucky with porsche plug and charge at Ionity in Spain and ended using their app (with bad rates):

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