By 2011, Jose Socrates' government plans to construct a network of 1,300 electric vehicle charging stations around the country, which will be operated by the management entity Mobi-E. Motorists will be able to charge up their electric vehicles at these stations using a charging card as part of a drive to "liberate Portugal from its dependency on foreign oil”.
The first station in the Mobi-E network opened in Lisbon at the end of last month. A further hundred are due to be opened by the end of this year, while 320 should be in place in 2010. In the meantime, Renault-Nissan says that Portugal will be one of the first markets for the launch of its electric vehicles in 2011.
As Portugal has no domestic coal, natural gas or oil, it has traditionally had to import most of its energy. The charging network forms part of a wider Portuguese plan to move away from its current dependence on imported fuels by making use of the plentiful supplies of sun and wind at its disposal. Although Portugal already produces over a third of its electricity from renewable sources, Socrates' government plans to increase this share to 45% by 2010.
"Portugal is a global leader in renewable energy,” said Socrates, “the next step is to make Portugal a pioneer in zero emission mobility." Socrates also hopes the state investment in the Mobi-E network will encourage electric vehicle manufacturers to locate their production facilities in Portugal, which has been hit hard by the global recession. In fact, it appears his government's efforts are already starting to pay dividends, with Renault-Nissan announcing last month that it will build a new €250 million plant in Portugal to produce 60,000 lithium-ion batteries a year for electric vehicles.
The Franco-Japanese alliance has also agreed to make Portugal one of a number of pilot markets for the roll out of electric cars over the next few years, along with Denmark and Israel. The first vehicles should be seen on Portuguese roads within the next two years. Although the early Renault-Nissan models will be made in France and Japan, Portugal is hoping the battery plant and recharging network will be stepping stones to a much greater investment in electric car manufacturing in Portugal.
According to government estimates, Portugal could have 180,000 electric vehicles on the roads by 2020 served by 25,000 charging stations; while the Portuguese energy company EDP, which is a partner on the Mobi-E project, estimates that the recharging market could be worth up to €2 billion by that year.
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