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EV Charging Cost

What charging an electric car costs at home and at a public post, and the price per kWh you really pay.

Post tariffs (CEME and OPC) are displayed at the post without VAT and vary from operator to operator: replace the illustrative values with the ones you find there. The home price is the one on your bill, with VAT included.

Total at a public post
€27.28
Price you actually paid
€0.758/kWh

The post advertises energy at €0.22/kWh and the full invoice works out at €0.758/kWh, which is 3.44 times more. The difference is the post usage parcel charged by the operator, plus VAT on the whole invoice.

Energy charged36 kWh
Charging time43.2 min
Range that energy gives211.76 km
Energy parcel (supplier)€7.92
Post parcel: per energy€10.80
Post parcel: per time€3.46
Post parcel: activation fee€0.00
Subtotal excluding VAT€22.18
VAT (23%) on the whole invoice€5.10
The same charge done at home€6.48
Cost per 100 km at the post€12.88
Cost per 100 km at home€3.06

Charging at the post costs 4.21 times what the same charge would cost at home, a difference of €20.80 in a single session.

There is a component charged per minute, so the same charge costs more in a car that accepts less power: lower the power and watch the effect.

The time shown is a theoretical minimum, at constant power. Above roughly 80% state of charge the power drops, so a real session takes longer and the per-time component costs more, never less.

The energy parcel is sold by the electricity supplier (CEME) and the post usage parcel by the post operator (OPC), which are separate companies. MOBI.E clarifies that the operator per-kWh component corresponds to a service, the use of the point, and not to the supply of electricity.

The figures exclude charging losses: the meter measures the energy leaving the wall and the battery keeps slightly less, so the real cost per usable kWh is a little higher.

The sum this calculator does

It starts from the energy that actually enters the battery, not from the battery size: the energy of a session is the capacity multiplied by the gap between the final and the initial state of charge. A 60 kWh battery taken from 20% to 80% receives 36 kWh, not 60. It then works out the time by dividing that energy by the power the session runs at, because time is one of the things you pay for. At home it multiplies the energy by the per-kWh price of your own contract and stops there, because at home there is a single supplier, a single price and no post operator in between. At a public post it does what the invoice does: it adds the energy parcel, adds the three possible components of the post parcel, and only then applies VAT to the total. Finally it divides that total by the energy charged, and that figure, the effective price per kWh, answers the question almost nobody can answer.

Two parcels, two companies, one invoice

The Portuguese public network is interoperable, and that has a consequence which confuses a lot of people: the company that sells you the electricity and the company that lends you the post are not the same, and both are paid out of a single charge. MOBI.E, which runs the network and defines this model, describes the invoice as the sum of three things. First the energy parcel, which is the tariff of the electricity supplier for e-mobility, the CEME, the company you hold a contract with and which issues the invoice. Second the post usage parcel, which corresponds to the tariff of the charging point operators (OPC) for making the post available, and which is billed by the CEME and then passed on to the operator. Third the taxes. The advantage of the model is real, and MOBI.E stresses it: you get one itemised invoice whichever post you use. The disadvantage is that the price you see displayed is not one price, it is two.

The finding: the same kWh is charged twice, under two names

This is the sentence that changes the sum, and it is MOBI.E own wording, in its FAQ, about the three components an operator may combine: the per-unit-of-energy component «corresponds to a service (use of the point) and not to the supply of electricity, which is always the responsibility of the suppliers». Read it slowly. The post operator may also charge in euros per kWh, but what it is selling in that unit is not electricity, it is the right to use the equipment. That is why the two figures add up instead of replacing one another. A driver who sees €0.22/kWh and multiplies by the 36 kWh they need arrives at €7.92 and drives off content; the invoice then adds the operator per-kWh component, the per-minute component, any activation fee, and charges VAT on all of it. In the example on this page the result is €27.28, which is €0.758 for every kWh, three and a half times the number on display. It is nobody mistake and it is not an improper charge: it is how the price is built, and it is published. It is simply not published anywhere you would read it before charging.

The per-minute component makes your car a cost factor

It is the easiest component to overlook and the one that produces the biggest surprises, because it does not depend on what you take, it depends on how long you take to take it. MOBI.E says operator tariffs may vary through the day, or differ within the same post depending on the power of the charging points, and that one of the three variables is a cost per minute. Add a fact from the car side: every model has its own limit on the power it accepts, in alternating and in direct current. A car limited to 7.4 kW plugged into a 22 kW post does not charge at 22 kW, it charges at 7.4 kW, and occupies the post three times as long to take exactly the same energy. If the operator charges per minute, that driver pays three times the time component of the driver next to them, for the same electricity. That is why this calculator asks for the power, and why the power shows up in the result. Note too that the time it shows is a theoretical minimum: above roughly 80% state of charge the power drops considerably, so a real session takes longer than the sum suggests and the per-minute component costs more, never less.

VAT applies to the whole invoice

This is worth stating separately because almost every mental calculation forgets it: the tax does not apply only to the electricity, it applies to the post service as well. MOBI.E writes it without room for doubt: VAT, currently 23% on the mainland, 22% in Madeira and 16% in the Azores, «is applied to the whole invoice». The mainland rate is the standard rate of article 18(1)(c) of the Portuguese VAT Code, and the lower rates in the autonomous regions exist because article 18(3) allows the Legislative Assemblies of the Azores and Madeira to set reduced VAT rates. In the example on this page VAT alone is €5.10, of which almost two thirds falls on the post parcel rather than on the energy. Since the tariffs displayed at posts are shown without VAT, it is a part of the price that only appears at the end.

At home the sum is different, and the gap is wide

At home there is no post operator, no per-minute component and no activation fee: there is your electricity contract and the per-kWh price you already pay for everything else. So the calculator asks for that price with VAT already included, exactly as it appears on your bill, and simply multiplies. In the example, the same 36 kWh cost €6.48 at home and €27.28 at the post, a difference of €20.80 in a single charge. Two honest caveats, because the home sum is simple but is not free. The first is that the meter counts the energy leaving the wall and the battery keeps less than that: there are charging losses, especially on alternating current, so the real cost per usable kWh is slightly higher than every figure here. The second is that domestic electricity in Portugal carries a reduced VAT rate on part of the monthly consumption for low contracted power, but that part is allocated to the whole household consumption and not to the car, so it is not derivable from the inputs this page asks for. It is explained rather than approximated.

How to use this without inventing numbers

Tariffs vary from post to post, and that is deliberate, because each operator sets its own. MOBI.E is clear that operators are free to set the tariffs they see fit, and that the tariff for this parcel is always displayed at the post. The values this calculator arrives pre-filled with are illustrative and exist to show you the shape of the sum, not to tell you what you will pay. Before charging, read the operator tariff and your supplier energy price off the post or the app, and type them in here. MOBI.E offers that lookup, post by post, on its Find a Post page. Two things to look for in particular: whether there is an activation fee, because a fixed fee turns a small top-up into an absurd price per kWh, and whether there is a per-minute component, because that is the one that depends on your car rather than on the post.

What this sum does not do

The following is left out, and said rather than approximated. Networks not connected to MOBI.E work on a different model, which MOBI.E itself describes separately: they may charge a periodic subscription fee, they bundle energy and post into a single parcel, and they add a fee from the e-mobility service provider. That is not the sum on this page. Charging losses and the charging curve are left out, for the reasons above. The comparison with a combustion car is left out, because it has its own calculator and is the natural next step: with the cost per 100 km this page returns, the other side of the comparison is made there. And the costs of owning the car that are not energy are left out, in particular the annual circulation tax and the vehicle tax, which fully electric cars are exempt from, and which have calculators of their own.

Worked example

A car with a 60 kWh battery and a consumption of 17 kWh/100 km is charged from 20% to 80%, that is 36 kWh, enough for roughly 212 km. At a 50 kW rapid post that takes 43.2 minutes. Suppose the post shows energy at €0.22/kWh, an operator tariff of €0.30/kWh plus €0.08 per minute, and no activation fee. The energy parcel is €7.92, the post usage parcel is €14.26 (€10.80 for the per-kWh component plus €3.46 for the 43.2 minutes), the subtotal is €22.18, VAT at 23% is €5.10 and the total is €27.28. Divided by the 36 kWh, you paid €0.758 per kWh: 3.44 times the energy price that was on display. The same charge at home, at €0.18/kWh including VAT, would cost €6.48, which is €20.80 less and a quarter of the price. Converted to distance, that is €12.88 per 100 km at the post against €3.06 per 100 km at home. The order of magnitude is worth remembering: €12.88 per 100 km is more than a petrol car doing 6 litres per 100 km at €1.80 a litre, which would spend €10.80. Charging at home is unbeatable; always charging at a rapid post can work out dearer than petrol.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to charge an electric car in Portugal?
It depends above all on where you charge, and the gap is several-fold. At home you pay only the per-kWh price of your electricity contract: a 36 kWh charge at €0.18/kWh costs €6.48. At a public post on the MOBI.E network you pay two parcels, the supplier energy and the post usage charged by the operator, plus VAT on everything: the same 36 kWh charge can cost €27.28. Because operator tariffs vary from post to post and may include per-minute and per-session components, the only honest way to answer is to run the sum with the values displayed at the post you are about to use.
Why did I pay far more than the per-kWh price on display?
Because the per-kWh price you saw is, almost always, only the energy parcel. MOBI.E explains that the post operator charges its own tariff, which may have a euros-per-kWh component, a per-minute component and a fixed fee per charge, and states expressly that the operator per-kWh component corresponds to a service, the use of the point, and not to the supply of electricity. On top of that, VAT falls on the whole invoice, including the post share. Add the two parcels and the tax and an effective price three times the displayed number is entirely normal.
Is charging at home really that much cheaper?
As a rule yes, and by a wide margin. At home there is no operator tariff, no per-minute component and no activation fee, so you pay a simple multiplication by your contract price. In the example on this page the same charge costs €6.48 at home and €27.28 at a rapid post. Two notes: there are charging losses, especially on alternating current, so the battery receives slightly less than the meter records; and charging at home takes time and often a dedicated socket or an installed wallbox.
Why do two cars pay different amounts at the same post?
Because one of the components of the operator tariff is charged per minute, and the time depends on the car. Every model has a limit on the power it accepts: a car limited to 7.4 kW plugged into a 22 kW post charges at 7.4 kW and occupies the post about three times as long as a car that accepts the full 22 kW, to take the same energy. If there is a per-minute component, it pays roughly three times that component. It is also the reason not to leave the car plugged in after it has finished.
Does VAT apply only to the electricity?
No. MOBI.E writes that VAT is applied to the whole invoice, which means it falls on the post usage parcel too. The rate is the standard rate of article 18(1)(c) of the Portuguese VAT Code, 23% on the mainland, with 22% in Madeira and 16% in the Azores, regional rates that exist under article 18(3) of the same code. Since the tariffs displayed at posts are shown without VAT, it is a part of the price that only appears at the end.
What is the IEC that appears on an electricity invoice?
It is the special tax on the consumption of electricity. MOBI.E identifies it as part of the energy parcel and puts it at €0.001 per kWh on the mainland, under Portaria 320-D/2011. It is a small figure, roughly four cents on a 36 kWh charge, and it is already inside the per-kWh price the supplier quotes. That is why this calculator does not add it again: counting it twice would be as wrong as leaving it out.
Does an electric car pay IUC and ISV in Portugal?
Fully electric passenger cars are exempt from the vehicle tax (ISV) on registration, and their annual circulation tax (IUC) is substantially more favourable, because the tables are built on engine size and CO₂ emissions. Those taxes are not part of the charging cost and so do not enter this sum, but they are part of the cost of owning the car. We have separate calculators for ISV and for IUC.

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Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: 2026-08-31