Iberdrola | bp pulse has just inaugurated a new electric charging hub near Albufeira, in the Algarve, equipped with eight charging points, six of which are ultra-fast, allowing the simultaneous charging of up to eight vehicles. This announcement coincides with an important milestone for the company, which has just surpassed 500 charging points in Portugal, as disclosed in a press release.
According to the same source, this new hub was designed with the future in mind, since it is prepared to grow to a total of 18 charging points, awaiting only administrative validation by the competent authorities for its commissioning.
The new infrastructure is located in the exterior parking lot of Algarve Shopping, in Guia, in Albufeira – one of Portugal’s most important tourist areas – and will offer a range of charging points powered by electricity from 100% renewable sources and suited to the needs of almost all users and types of electric vehicles.
The hub includes eight charging points fast or ultra-fast, two of 400 kW, four of 200 kW and two of 50 kW, distributed among four high-capacity chargers. To ensure rapid and reliable charging, even with all charging points in use simultaneously, this hub benefits from the local installation of a battery energy storage system with a capacity of approximately 1 MWh. This battery system will operate in an intermediate phase, until administrative validation of the hub’s final configuration – the same solution previously used at the Nazaré Oeste Service Area on the A8. In the Moscavide hub, the batteries are a permanent element of the installation.
Moreover, this new hub has already begun operating under the new electric mobility regime. Access is straightforward: on one side, payment can be made directly at the station using a bank card, without the need for a prior contract; on the other, Iberdrola | bp pulse already has commercial agreements established with various providers of electric mobility services, allowing their customers to also charge at this infrastructure.
Ricardo Pacheco, Country Manager of Iberdrola | bp pulse in Portugal, commented that “this is an infrastructure that will greatly benefit not only Portuguese drivers, but also the thousands of tourists who visit the Algarve every year and who expect to find in our country a modern and reliable infrastructure to recharge their electric vehicle.”
At this hub, a vehicle with an average energy consumption of 16 kWh/100 km can recover approximately 400 km of range in just 10 minutes by using one of the 400 kW charging points – provided, of course, that the vehicle is capable of supporting that power and that the charging conditions are optimal.
“In addition to contributing to the increased density of charging points in the Algarve, this new Iberdrola | bp pulse hub is also proof of how the idea that charging an electric vehicle is slow and complicated is becoming increasingly outdated, as we bring together at the same stations the possibility of ultra-fast charging with the ease of payment through bank cards,” concluded Ricardo Pacheco.
Located in the exterior parking lot of Algarve Shopping in Guia, in Albufeira, an area with a high influx of visitors, especially during the summer season, this hub covers the entire charging area, thereby protecting vehicles and drivers from rain or sun while waiting for rapid charging.
Furthermore, users who opt for slower charging points will have all the shopping centre’s services at their disposal on site – including dining, a hypermarket, a wide range of fashion stores, leisure zones and other services – thus making the waiting time irrelevant.
Iberdrola | bp pulse network surpassed 500 charging points in Portugal
The opening of this new hub fits into Iberdrola | bp pulse’s growth strategy in Portugal, which has just surpassed 500 operational charging points across the country.
Ricardo Pacheco commented that “this number confirms our leadership across the Iberian Peninsula in terms of ultra-fast charging points, at a time when the acceleration of electric vehicle sales in Portugal is pushing the network to offer increasingly more and better solutions.”
“The only way to respond to the needs and expectations of electric vehicle drivers is through the continuous strengthening of the charging infrastructure, something we aim to do by providing ultra-fast, reliable and easy-to-use charging points,” concluded the Country Manager of Iberdrola | bp pulse in Portugal.
