Portugal will have 49 more electric vehicle charging points by the end of this year to encourage civil servants to share the vehicle for environmental protection, Portugal's Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy Jorge Moreira da Silva said on Wednesday.

"By installing 49 fast charging points it is the dimension of safety of supply of electric vehicles is being improved," Jorge Moreira da Silva said during a conference on electric mobility in Lisbon.

Moreira da Silva said that electric mobility should be seen as an "essential plan" for the country.

"We should bet on electric mobility because it is one of the reasons for there to be energetic mobility," he added.

The government is expected to acquire around 30 electric vehicles by the end of the year, a figure which will rise to 1,200 until 2020 under the country's sustainable mobility program for the public administration (Eco-Mob).

The aim is to encourage civil servants to share cars and use bicycles among other electric vehicles.

The investment will total around 41.5 million euros (about 46 million U.S. dollars) with the main aim being to reduce environmental impact and save 50 million euros until 2021. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollars) Enditem
Source: XINHUA