Ministry of Mines and Energy opens EV charging consultation in 2026 By Luís Pereira
4 min read
 |
Electric car sales in Brazil have passed the entire 2025 total by about 70%, and the federal government responded on 23 October 2026. That day, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) opened a public consultation to back a national diagnosis of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The move follows a sales surge that has put pressure on the country’s charging network and power grid.
According to the ministry, the consultation will gather technical data from the market to draw a picture of the sector in Brazil. It will also identify legal and regulatory barriers and propose regulatory adjustments. The government wants to connect charging equipment to power distribution grids and improve national energy planning as the electrified fleet expands quickly. The work is led by the Department of Electromobility, created by Decree No. 12.973 of 13 May 2026 within the National Secretariat for Energy Transition and Planning.
Electric car sales outpace official forecasts in 2026
The ministry’s assessment relies on figures from the Brazilian Electric Vehicle Association (ABVE), which covers the first nine months of 2026. Adoption of electric and hybrid models by Brazilian consumers ran ahead of what the country’s energy planners had projected for the period. In September, electrified vehicles reached 19.8% of light vehicle sales, a pace that the ministry said has been higher than the official projections available.
The consultation rests on four consolidated indicators for the market and the charging network. The ministry’s technical note lists the figures below, drawn from ABVE data and a survey with Tupi Mobilidade.
- Registrations from January to September 2026: 381,609 light electrified vehicles sold in Brazil.
- Growth over 2025: about 70% in the first nine months of 2026, compared with all sales registered in 2025.
- Public network: 29,866 public and semi-public charging points in operation in the country.
Southeast and South hold most public charging points
Despite the rapid growth in registrations, the location of chargers determines how easily owners can use their cars every day. Data from ABVE and Tupi Mobilidade, cited by the government, show that the network is concentrated in the Southeast and South regions. Large areas of the country have little coverage as a result.
See also: Tesla Roadster prototype flips in midair using 10 SpaceX cold-gas thrusters at McGregor test site
The distribution of public and semi-public points across the country is uneven. The shares below show how much of the national network each area holds.
- São Paulo state alone: 26.3% of all charging points in operation in Brazil.
- São Paulo plus the three Southern states: 50.7% of the national total.
- Northern region, seven states combined: 3.4% of the national network.
Carmakers plan about R$ 130 billion in Brazil by 2030
The government sees electrification as a lasting change in the car market, not a passing trend. Among the main reasons it gives for the sales jump is the arrival of new foreign carmakers in Brazil. Announced direct investment in local production and assembly also widens the range of models available to buyers.
Chinese carmaker BYD is moving to source more auto components locally and has already filed requests for licenses to double annual output at its plant in Camaçari, Bahia, aiming for 600,000 vehicles a year. Established groups such as Stellantis, Volkswagen, Toyota and GWM have also made electric and hybrid cars a central part of their investment plans in Brazil. According to federal government data, those plans total about R$ 130 billion through 2030.
Power demand from electric cars could reach 15 TWh by 2036
As the fleet grows, the government expects battery charging to take a significant share of the national power supply. The official estimate is that energy used exclusively for electric mobility will reach about 15 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2036. One TWh equals 1 billion kilowatt-hours. The technical note places this volume on the same scale as other new large loads in the sector’s demand planning.
Check out: Geely approves EX5 electric SUV with 635 km range in China
For the electric system, the main challenge is not only the total energy consumed over the next decade. The bigger issue is how that demand spreads over time and across regions. When many cars plug in at the same hours and in the same areas, local grids need advance preparation from utilities to avoid overloads.
In the technical note, the ministry warned about this risk. It said EV charging may create localized concentrations of demand in urban areas, residential condominiums, corporate garages, logistics hubs and highway corridors, with possible effects on the distribution and transformation circuits that serve them.
The public consultation accepts contributions for 30 days from publication, with the deadline set for 22 November 2026. Distributors, carmakers, charging operators and other interested parties can respond through the ministry’s online form or through the Brasil Participativo platform, and they do not need to answer every topic. The consultation is advisory only and does not oblige the ministry to adopt the proposals it receives.
