EV Charger in a Portugal Condominium: Your Rights, Deadlines and Costs
Published: 18/10/2026
Charging an electric car in an apartment building: the biggest hurdle for flat dwellers
Eight in ten would-be EV buyers who live in apartment buildings say charging is the last thing stopping them. That figure comes from an Ifop survey for Logivolt, published in France in October 2026, but it could just as easily describe Portugal. Most of us live in flats, park in a shared garage and have no idea whether we can put an EV charger in the condominium garage without asking anyone's permission.
Short answer: you can. Portuguese law gives you that right, and the current version is friendlier than most people assume. The tricky parts are the electrical capacity of older buildings, how the electricity gets billed, and the deadlines. Here is how it all works.
What the French survey found
The numbers show why this issue stalls so many purchases:
| Indicator (apartment residents, France) | Value |
|---|---|
| Have their own or on-site charging | 18% |
| Think an EV is easier to live with in a house | 80% |
| Cite at least one charging-related barrier | 67% |
| Would buy an EV or plug-in hybrid with easy, affordable charging | 88% |
| Support a shared building solution with individual subscription | 72% |
Asked why they hesitate to equip their building, residents point to installation cost (49%), needing the other owners' approval (36%) and technical constraints (34%). In Portugal, that second worry should be the smallest one — yet it causes the most confusion.
Installing an EV charger in a condominium in Portugal: the law in 2026
The rule sits in article 23 of Decree-Law 93/2025 of 14 August, Portugal's new Electric Mobility Legal Regime (RJME). It revoked the old DL 39/2010, and that is where a lot of online advice — especially in English — is now out of date.
Any owner (condómino), tenant or legal occupant of an existing building may install, at their own expense, a charging point or dedicated socket in their parking space, for exclusive or shared use. No vote at the owners' assembly is needed. All it takes is a written notice to the condominium administration — and, if you rent, to your landlord as well.
Does the condominium have to approve the charger?
No. The notice is exactly that: a notice, not a request for permission. The condominium administration can only object on one of five specific grounds:
- Within 90 days, the condominium installs a shared charging point offering the same services and technology to every potential user.
- The building already has a shared point that meets the same needs.
- The installation poses an effective risk to the safety of people or property — ideally backed by a technical opinion from an engineer registered with DGEG, the national energy authority.
- It obstructs circulation on common access routes.
- After the works, common areas no longer meet accessibility rules (DL 163/2006).
"I don't like how it looks" or "nobody else here drives electric" are not valid reasons. Be careful with older guides: many still list the building's "architectural line" as grounds for refusal and quote a 60-day notice period. Both belong to the revoked regime.
Deadlines: 30 days' notice, 30 days to decide
The new regime cut the notice period from 60 to 30 days. Your notice must reach the administration at least 30 days before the planned installation date. Within that same 30 days, the condominium must decide on any objection at an owners' assembly, by a simple majority of the building's total value, with written, reasoned notice (including to owners who were absent).
That timetable is tight for the condominium. As law firm PLMJ points out, an assembly needs 10 days' notice, a failed quorum can add another 7 days, and a safety-based objection needs a technical opinion ready before the meeting. If no valid objection arrives in time, you can go ahead.
Can a tenant install an EV charger?
Yes. Article 23 explicitly covers tenants and legal occupants. The only differences are that the notice must also go to the unit's owner, and the person requesting the charger still pays for it.
Notifying the condominium: what to put in the letter
There is no official template, but a well-written notice heads off arguments. Include:
- Your unit and parking space
- The planned installation date (at least 30 days after it is received)
- Charger power (for example, a 7.4 kW wallbox)
- Power source: your unit's own distribution board or the common-services board
- Installer details — this must be an installation company or technician registered with DGEG
- The equipment datasheet, if you have it
Send it by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt (carta registada com aviso de receção) or by email with delivery confirmation. What counts is the date the administration receives it, and you may need to prove it.
Who pays for the electricity in a shared garage?
This is the part the law leaves open, and where most disputes start. There are two main setups:
- Wired to your own unit's board (your meter): the cleanest option. The charger is yours, you run it, and the energy shows up on your home electricity bill. The catch is running cable from your flat's board down to the garage — in a large building, that can mean tens of metres.
- Wired to the common-services board or the building riser: the point is then operated by the condominium or a contracted charge point operator (OPC). The law does not say how this consumption is metered or billed, so owners need to agree — usually via a sub-meter, with the cost charged as an extra condominium fee. You can also ask E-REDES, the grid operator, for an autonomous metering point, though that is not always feasible.
What you cannot do: run cables out of a window, down the façade or across the street. It is illegal and dangerous. Lift shafts and ducts built for other purposes are also off-limits for charging cables.
Older buildings: where the right meets reality
Your right to install does not oblige the condominium to upgrade the building's electrical infrastructure. If there isn't enough capacity for another charger, reinforcing it is a common-parts project that must go through the assembly — and, as an "innovation", needs two-thirds of the building's value. Buildings whose plans were approved before 2010 were not even required to include pre-wiring.
That is where many owners get stuck. In a building with 30 garage spaces, the first two or three chargers may fit within the existing supply; the fourth might not. New builds are a different story: Portaria 128/2026 requires developers to provide ready-made infrastructure, with at least 3,680 VA per point, a minimum number of spaces calculated as N = 0.8 + 0.2 × n, and a mandatory load management system.
EV charger installation cost in Portugal
Here are 2026 figures for mainland Portugal, based on market references (Caetano):
| Scenario | Total cost (equipment + installation) |
|---|---|
| Basic 7.4 kW wallbox | €800 to €1,200 |
| Smart 7.4–11 kW wallbox | €1,000 to €1,600 |
| Smart 22 kW + extra works | €1,400 to €2,000 |
In a condominium, expect to land in the upper half of those ranges. Platforms such as Zaask quote €900 to €3,000, with apartment garages at the top because of long cable runs. The most common extras are a contracted power increase with E-REDES (€30 to €80 for the increase itself) and a distribution board upgrade (€150 to €400).
On the technical side, a 7.4 kW wallbox calls for 10.35 kVA of contracted power and 6 mm² cable for 32 A. When the job is done, the installer issues a declaration of conformity or a statement of responsibility.
Is it worth it? The home-charging maths
On a time-of-use (bi-hourly) tariff, off-peak electricity currently costs €0.10 to €0.14/kWh, against around €0.40/kWh at a public charger. Drive 1,500 km a month at 16 kWh/100 km (240 kWh) and the gap is roughly €67 a month: €28.80 at home versus €96 on the street. A €1,200 to €1,500 installation pays for itself in under two years.
Fundo Ambiental EV charger subsidy for condominiums: the 2026 round is closed
The Fundo Ambiental (Portugal's Environmental Fund) runs a "Mobilidade Verde" programme with a strand for condominiums (Tipologia 7): 80% of the charger up to €800 and 80% of installation up to €1,000 per space, so up to €1,800 per space. The limit is one charger per owner and 10 per condominium (per supply point, or CPE), and the charger must be connected to the Mobi.E network as a charge point holder (DPC).
Bad news if you are just getting started: the second 2026 round ran from 11 June to 27 July 2026 and the budget was used up. No applications are open right now. Keep an eye on the Fundo Ambiental portal for a possible new round, but don't build the subsidy into your budget.
Mobi.E: should you connect your charger to the network?
Mobi.E is Portugal's national EV charging network. Connecting a condominium charger to it has one clear advantage: you buy energy from an e-mobility electricity retailer, so it stays automatically separate from the building's bill. The downside is a management fee — €1.83 per month per point when consumer association DECO looked at it in 2022 — and, by DECO's own numbers, charging at home on an off-peak tariff without joining Mobi.E is the cheapest option when there's no subsidy.
The model is also changing. DL 93/2025 ends the centralised network, but DL 155/2026 extended the transition period to 31 December 2027. Until then Mobi.E keeps running the platform, and any platform tariff (set by the regulator ERSE) passed on to drivers must be itemised on the invoice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only on five grounds set out in Article 23 of Decree-Law 93/2025: the condominium installs an equivalent shared charging point within 90 days, an equivalent shared point already exists, there is an effective safety risk, the installation obstructs common access routes, or it breaches accessibility rules. Any objection must be approved at an owners' meeting by a simple majority of the building's total value, justified and notified in writing within 30 days. If the condominium does not validly object within that period, the owner may go ahead. The "architectural line" objection and the 60-day notice belong to the revoked DL 39/2010 regime.
The person who uses the charger. If it is wired to the flat's own distribution board, the energy goes straight onto the owner's household bill and the condominium pays nothing. If it is wired to the common-services board, the law does not regulate billing, so owners must agree on it — usually with a sub-meter and an extra fee — or request an autonomous metering point from E-REDES.
In 2026 the total cost (wallbox plus installation) is typically €800 to €2,000, but in apartment garages it can reach €3,000 because of long cable runs to the distribution board. The wallbox itself costs €300 to €1,300 and labour and materials €300 to €700. Extras may include an E-REDES power upgrade (€30 to €80) and a board upgrade (€150 to €400); a 7.4 kW wallbox calls for at least 10.35 kVA of contracted power.
Yes, as long as there is spare capacity on your flat's board or the common board. The Article 23 right does not force the condominium to upgrade the building's electrical infrastructure, and buildings with plans approved before 2010 were not required to include pre-wiring. If the common electrical installation needs reinforcing, that counts as an innovation and requires approval by two-thirds of the building's value at an owners' meeting. Before sending the notice, ask a DGEG-registered installer to assess available power and the cable route.
Not at the moment. The second 2026 phase of the Mobilidade Verde programme (Type 7) ran from 11 June to 27 July 2026 and its budget was exhausted. It covered 80% of the charger up to €800 and 80% of installation up to €1,000 per parking space, capped at one charger per owner and 10 per condominium, with mandatory connection to the Mobi.E network. Keep an eye on the Fundo Ambiental portal for a possible new phase, but do not count on this subsidy in your budget.
Before you buy an EV, if you live in a flat
Your right to an EV charger in a condominium garage in Portugal is real and well protected, but answer three questions before signing for the car: is there spare capacity on your board or the common board? How far is it to your parking space? How will the electricity be billed? Get a quote from a DGEG-registered installer, send your notice 30 days ahead and keep the proof of receipt. And if your condominium is already mulling a shared solution for everyone, pushing that conversation at the next assembly may serve you better than going it alone.