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Smartcards to be used in Portuguese electric car charging scheme
5 Nov 2010

Smartcards are set to play an integral role in a Portuguese electric car charging scheme, it has been revealed.

Electric car drivers will be issued with smart cards to access charging points located around the country, reports businessgreen.com.

Miguel Pinto, a spokesman for state-backed charging network developer Mobi:E, told the news provider: "People can go to any charge point so there's no monopoly.

"But at the same time there will be a market and they will be able to look at different prices offered by different companies and compare."

Mr Pinto also confirmed that the card will be developed with open architecture which will allow the programme to support other services such as parking fee payment and travel on public transport.

A total of 25 out of 300 Portuguese municipalities have signed up to the scheme, with around 1,430 charging points set to be installed.