Filling up or charging your car
Portugal has the 10th most expensive petrol prices in the world. Diesel fuel is cheaper, and LPG is less than half the price of petrol.
Apart from some up-country areas (Alentejo and Beira Interior) there are plenty of petrol stations around. Portuguese highways have usually a petrol station every 40km to 50km, although the prices are a bit higher. Those located on highways are also always equipped with a rest area, a food court and bathrooms and most have a rapid charger for electric cars.
Type of fuels available
There are plenty of fuel types to choose from in Portugal. First, as mandated by our government, there are fuels without any additives (called Combustíveis Simples, roughly translates to simple fuels) or with additives. The idea was to make fuel cheaper, but it's still very expensive.
LPG does not have this distinction as there are no special additives with this fuel type.
Petrol is available with 95 and 98 octane, although not every fuel station now carries 98 octane fuel as it is very expensive (up to €2,10 per liter in some cases).
Usually 95 octane fuel is E5 and 98 octane fuel is E10. Diesel is B7.
Payment methods
Pretty much every fuel station allows you to use any debit card in the Visa network. If you use a credit card there is usually a service fee of €0,50 and you might see a €100 payment on hold on your credit card statement. Fuel companies say this is a security measure in case there are not enough funds to allow you to fill up your car. Eventually, up to 7 days, the hold is removed and only the amount you actually filled up is withdrawn. Be aware.
You can always pay by cash but some fuel stations after a certain hour will only be available if you pay directly at the pump with a credit or debit card. If possible the pay at the pump method is the best as the instructions are given to you in your language of choice.
Also some fuel stations will be blocked and you need to pay first, if you want to fill it up you need to use the payment at the pump or ask the clerk to unlock the pump. And if you are on a motorcycle the fuel pump will be locked unless you prepay. Also you are not allowed to fill your motorcycle with your helmet on if it covers your face.
Finding the cheapest fuel
Petrol stations on highways have their prices visible 2km before, comparing those prices with the next fuel stations. Usually the prices are all the same, so no need to bother.
If you really want to find the cheapest prices you need to use the website Mais Gasolina
If you really want to find the cheapest prices you need to use the website Mais Gasolina or the Android app.
The website is in Portuguese, but if you go to "Navegar mapa de postos" you can see the fuel stations on a map, or in "Postos mais baratos" you can find the cheapest fuel stations by county. Gasolina is petrol, gasóleo is diesel and GPL is LPG.
Also if your car runs on LPG make sure to check the map and choose only the LPG stations as not all stations have LPG available.
Charging your electric car
Charging an electric car in Portugal is a bit different to the rest of Europe. There is a centralized system, Mobi.e, this means your card from your electricity provider works in every public charging station available. Some stations charge by the kWh, others by minute, others by a mix of both.
Your best option (and cheapest as of the date of this article) is Octopus Electroverse that allows you to charge with a fixed rate on most Portuguese public chargers. A good backup, but more expensive, is the Portuguese app Miio, as it allows paying with a credit card and works with the majority of charge points available in Portugal.
Be aware that with Miio the pricing varies according to the time of day and charging point. Before you charge you can do a simulation to check how much it would cost.