Portugal becomes a European manufacturer of small, affordable and sustainable e-cars

MATOSINHOS, Portugal, Dec. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BEN received today the European Union type-approval certificate after a long and demanding process carried out at IDIADA (in Spain), and can now be driven throughout Europe.

Created by CEiiA, BEN is the first of a kind e-car that represents a shift in the European automotive sector – from traditional automakers to mobility builders. Based on an aﬀordable BODY and a disruptive digital platform out-of-car (high-tech software layer), BEN enables seamless connection with other vehicles and users, supporting a wide range of applications and new business models. Designed to adopt software anywhere and anytime, BEN leverages cutting edge technologies to enable continuous innovation in the vehicle.

It was designed to be used and traded as a service. It is the first e-car with a CO₂ avoided-emissions counter, capable of offsetting the carbon emissions generated during production throughout its lifetime through AYR technology (winner of the 2021 European Bauhaus Prize).

BEN is a result from Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), managed by IAPMEI. It is part of the Be.Neutral Agenda, led by NOS and involving 40 partners, including CEiiA and eight municipalities in Northern Portugal, with particular emphasis on Guimarães, which will be the European Green Capital in 2026.

“With BEN, Portugal is now a European (mobility) manufacturer. We created BEN as Europe’s response to a new inclusive social model based on more affordable, smaller and sustainable e-cars. BEN is therefore aligned with the ‘Small and Affordable e-car’ initiative launched by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with the aim of creating a European car of the future,” says Helena Silva, Boad member and CTO of CEiiA.

The first phase of BEN’s development now concludes with the type-approval certificate that allows the production of an initial series of e-cars at CEiiA’s BEN Garage in Matosinhos. The next phase involves the construction of batches of special-edition e-cars, customised for various planned applications. This period will also include further product development and an evolution of BEN’s pilot production unit, with a capacity to produce 200 units per year.

In 2026, additional production sites will be established in Portugal and across Europe. Negotiations are currently underway so that by 2030 production will be decentralised, reaching 20,000 units per year, with prices starting at €8,000.

Ricardo Rodrigues - pressmedia agency
+351969523802
rr@pressmediaonline.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e39754f0-5328-4e23-8176-8dff01cf75f8

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