Before any charger goes into a Portuguese condominium, someone has to solve the technical, regulatory, and human problem. That is what we do.
A resident buys an electric vehicle. They contact the condominium administrator. The administrator has no idea where to begin. An electrician is called. The electrician gives a price — but no one knows whether the building's electrical panel can handle it, whether other residents will want chargers in two years, or how to split the cost fairly.
The meeting happens. Half the owners object. The proposal dies. The EV driver parks on the street and charges slowly overnight.
This is not a technology problem. It is a planning problem — and it is entirely solvable with the right preparation.
Read Our Approach
We solve the problem that comes before all of that — the technical assessment, the regulatory framework, the cost model, and the proposal that actually gets approved.
We evaluate the building's existing electrical infrastructure, identify available capacity, and determine what load management approach is appropriate for the number of expected chargers.
We design the installation model — individual connections per parking space, a shared infrastructure with metered access, or a phased approach that grows with demand over time.
We prepare the documentation, present the proposal at the condominium assembly, and answer the questions that would otherwise derail the vote. Then we coordinate with the certified installer.
Before any charger installation is viable, the building's electrical infrastructure must be understood. We review the existing supply contract, the main panel configuration, and the distribution across parking levels. We identify the realistic capacity available for EV charging without triggering costly supply upgrades — and we flag the scenarios where an upgrade is unavoidable and what that entails.
This assessment forms the foundation of every recommendation we make. Without it, any proposal is speculation.
Dynamic load management allows multiple chargers to share available electrical capacity intelligently — slowing charging when demand peaks and accelerating when the building has headroom. We evaluate which load management approach suits the building's usage patterns: static allocation, dynamic per-session balancing, or scheduled overnight charging.
The right load management strategy can make the difference between a €40,000 electrical upgrade and no upgrade at all.
Portuguese law (Decreto-Lei 90/2021) gives individual owners the right to install EV charging at their own parking space, but this does not mean individual installation is always the practical or economical choice. We analyse both paths: individual connections run directly to each space, and collective infrastructure models where a shared backbone serves multiple chargers with metered, individual billing.
We explain the trade-offs honestly — upfront cost, future flexibility, maintenance responsibility, and what happens when the next three residents also want chargers.
ERSE (Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energéticos) sets the regulatory framework for electrical installations and energy supply in Portugal. We navigate the applicable regulations — including the rules on sub-metering in condominiums, the requirements for charging point operators, and the documentation required for a legally compliant installation.
We also clarify what the condominium's own statutes may say about common infrastructure modifications, and how to frame the assembly vote correctly under Portuguese condominium law.
The most contentious moment in any condominium EV charging discussion is not the technology — it is the money. Who pays for the shared backbone infrastructure? Do non-EV owners contribute? What happens when a future resident wants to add a charger to a space that was not originally connected?
We model the cost allocation scenarios, prepare the financial framework for the assembly proposal, and help the administrator present a fair, transparent structure that reduces objections before the vote.
A technically sound proposal can still fail at the assembly if it is presented poorly. We attend the condominium meeting, present the solution in plain language, address the objections that always arise, and guide the vote. We bring the documentation that makes approval straightforward — technical drawings, cost breakdowns, regulatory references, and a phased implementation timeline.
Once approved, we coordinate with the certified installer to ensure the project is executed according to the plan we designed — not a different interpretation of it.
A structured process that removes uncertainty at every stage — for administrators, residents, and the installer.
We listen to the current situation — how many residents have EVs or are considering one, what the administrator already knows, and what obstacles have already appeared. No obligation, no sales pitch.
We visit the building, review the electrical installation, photograph the parking layout, and document everything needed to produce an accurate technical recommendation.
We produce the technical plan: infrastructure layout, load management approach, installation model, regulatory compliance checklist, and cost allocation framework.
We present to the condominium assembly with full documentation, answer questions, and support the vote. The proposal is designed to be approved — not just submitted.
We connect the building with a certified installer and remain available during the installation phase to ensure the work matches the approved plan.
Commercial parking operators face a parallel set of challenges: how many chargers to deploy, what revenue model to use, how to manage power capacity across dozens of spaces, and how to comply with the regulatory requirements for public charging.
We work with parking facility managers, property developers, and commercial building owners to design infrastructure that serves their specific operational context — not a generic template.
View Service PackagesPractical perspectives on EV charging infrastructure planning in Portugal — written for building administrators, not engineers.
Most discussions about EV charging in condominiums start with charger models and prices. They should start with the building's existing electrical supply contract and what the main panel can realistically support.
A technically sound EV charging proposal can fail at the assembly for entirely non-technical reasons. Understanding the objections before they arise is the difference between approval and another year of delay.
Dynamic load management can allow a building to support significantly more chargers than its raw electrical capacity would suggest — but only if it is designed correctly from the start.
No commitment required. We are happy to discuss your building's situation and explain what a planning process would involve.
1600-275 Lisboa, Portugal
When a condominium administrator receives the first request to install an EV charger, the conversation typically jumps immediately to products: which brand, how many kilowatts, what does it cost? These are reasonable questions, but they are the wrong starting point.
Every building in Portugal has a supply contract with the grid operator that defines the maximum power available to the building as a whole. This contract — the potência contratada — determines how much total load the building can draw at any moment. The main electrical panel distributes this power across lighting, lifts, common area circuits, and the individual apartment connections.
Before any EV charger can be added, someone needs to understand what headroom exists within the existing supply contract. A standard 7kW home charger draws as much power as several air conditioners running simultaneously. A building with ten residents who all want chargers may require far more capacity than is currently contracted — and upgrading the supply contract involves the grid operator, lead times, and significant cost.
The electrical panel assessment is not a formality. It is the document that determines whether an EV charging project is straightforward, complex, or requires a phased approach. It also determines whether individual installations are viable or whether a collective infrastructure with shared load management is the only practical path.
Skipping this step — or delegating it to an installer who has a commercial interest in selling chargers — is how buildings end up with proposals that fail, installations that trip the main breaker, or supply upgrades that could have been avoided with smarter design.
The assessment should be independent. That is the only way the result can be trusted by all parties — the administrator, the requesting residents, and the owners who will be asked to vote on the proposal.
The technical solution is only half the challenge. The other half happens in a room full of people with different priorities, different levels of car ownership, and different views on how condominium funds should be spent.
The most common reason EV charging proposals fail at the assembly is not cost — it is uncertainty. Owners who do not yet have electric vehicles see a proposal that asks them to contribute to infrastructure they may never use. Without clear answers to their questions, the rational response is to vote no.
What are those questions? They are consistent across nearly every condominium in Portugal: Who pays for the shared infrastructure? What happens when I want a charger in two years — do I pay again? What if the building's electricity bill increases because of the chargers? Who is responsible if there is a fault? Does this affect the building's insurance?
A proposal that does not anticipate these questions will encounter them unprepared. A proposal that addresses them in advance — with clear, documented answers — removes the uncertainty that drives objections.
Under Portuguese condominium law (Regime da Propriedade Horizontal), modifications to common infrastructure generally require a majority vote. The threshold depends on what is being modified and how it is classified. Getting the legal framing right is not a minor detail — it determines whether the vote is valid and whether a dissenting minority can challenge the outcome.
Presenting to a condominium assembly is a specific skill. It requires plain language, patience with repetitive questions, and the ability to separate the emotional from the technical. It also requires the credibility that comes from being independent — not an installer with a commercial interest in the outcome.
Here is a scenario that plays out regularly in Portuguese condominiums: the building has a 41.4 kVA supply contract. After accounting for lifts, lighting, and other common loads, there is perhaps 15 kW of headroom available for EV charging. A standard 7kW charger would consume most of that for a single vehicle. How can the building serve five, ten, or fifteen EV owners?
The answer, in most cases, is dynamic load management — and it is an option that many installers either do not mention or actively avoid explaining, because it requires more sophisticated design work upfront.
Dynamic load management uses a control system that monitors the building's total power consumption in real time and distributes available charging capacity across all connected chargers. When the building is drawing less power — typically at night, when lifts are idle and lighting is reduced — each charger receives more capacity and charges faster. When building consumption peaks, the system reduces charging power across all active sessions to stay within the supply limit.
The practical effect is that a building with 15 kW of available headroom can support ten or more chargers simultaneously — just not all at full speed at the same time. For overnight home charging, this is rarely a problem. A vehicle that arrives home at 7pm and needs to be ready by 7am has twelve hours to charge. Even at 2-3 kW, that covers most daily driving needs.
Load management does not eliminate the need for an electrical assessment — it makes the assessment more nuanced. The question shifts from "how much capacity do we have?" to "how does our building's consumption pattern interact with the charging demand we expect?" That is a more complex question, but it is also one that often produces a much more affordable answer.