Portugal Lags in Electric Truck Adoption, Associations Urge Incentives

Ekhbary News Agency | 2026-05-12T14:30:00Z

Portugal is experiencing a slow transition to electric heavy-duty vehicles, a trend that environmental and consumer associations ZERO and UVE deem particularly concerning due to the near absence of these trucks in the national market. Official figures from IMT reveal that in 2024, electric vehicles represented a mere 0.1% of all heavy-duty freight vehicles. In the first half of this year, only 0.5% of new heavy-duty trucks over 12 tons sold in Portugal were electric, starkly contrasting with the 2.3% average across Europe, and significantly lower than countries like the Netherlands (9.5%) or Denmark (8.8%).

Substantial Gap in Freight Electrification

While electric heavy passenger vehicles are seeing strong sales, making up 55.4% of new sales in the first semester—well above the European average of 28.6%—the freight sector is lagging dramatically. ZERO and UVE attribute the success in passenger transport to the effectiveness of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) funding and advocate for similar, sustained support for freight. Currently, Portugal lacks direct national subsidies for purchasing electric trucks or installing necessary charging infrastructure, relying instead on limited tax benefits. The associations are pushing for a comprehensive incentive package covering acquisition, charging, grid connections, toll reductions, and prioritized fleet electrification, alongside shifting long-haul freight to rail.

Economic and Infrastructure Hurdles

The urgency is also economic, as electrifying a single regional or intensive-use truck could save 33,000 to 35,000 liters of diesel annually, equivalent to the petroleum consumption of over 30 average cars. However, the problem extends beyond cost to the charging network. Despite over 15,500 public charging points and 170 high-power chargers (350 kW+) as of June, the network is primarily designed for light vehicles. A report from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory indicated no public charging locations specifically for heavy-duty vehicles equipped with at least one 350 kW point in Portugal as of April. While private investment is expected to introduce a few such points soon, ZERO and UVE argue this is insufficient and call for targeted incentives for charging hubs along the Trans-European Transport Network, alongside decentralized energy storage and smart grid management systems to mitigate peak power demand and charging costs. They also propose reinforcing the Mobility and Transport Fund and the Environmental Fund, and allocating a greater share of vehicle taxes to transport energy transition.