Plug-in electric vehicles in the Netherlands

The adoption of plug-in electric vehicles in the Netherlands is actively supported by the Dutch government through the exemption of the registration fee and road taxes.

The Netherlands' mix of slow and fast chargers has allowed it to become the country with the highest number of charging point per capita in the world.

[7] In addition, the national government offers through the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment a €3,000 subsidy on the purchase of all-electric taxis or delivery vans.

This subsidy increases to €5,000 per vehicle in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and Arnhem-Nijmegen metropolitan area.

An additional subsidy is offered by several local government for the purchase of full electric taxis and vans, €5,000 in Amsterdam and €3,000 in Limburg and Tilburg.

[20] EV owners in the city of Rotterdam are entitled to one year of free parking in downtown and enjoy subsidies of up to €1,450 if they install a home charger using green electricity.

[18] Other factors contributing to the rapid adoption of plug-in electric vehicles are the relative small size of the country, which reduces range anxiety (the Netherlands stretches about 100 mi (160 km) east to west); a long tradition of environmental activism; high gasoline prices ( Europe per litre [21] compared to 40.4 eurocents per kWh [22] as of October 2023), which make the cost of running a car on electricity substantially cheaper; and also some EV leasing programs provide free or discounted gasoline-powered vehicles for those who want to take a vacation driving long distances.

As of September 2012[update], these Car2Go vehicles and other electric cars in Amsterdam had access to more than 320 charging stations in the city area.

The Netherlands' mix of slow and fast chargers has allowed it to become the country with the highest number of charging point per capita in the world.

[1] As part of its commitment to environmental sustainability, the Dutch government initiated a plan to establish over 200 recharging stations for electric vehicles across the country by 2015.

The rollout will be undertaken by Switzerland-based power and automation company ABB and Dutch startup Fastned, and will aim to provide at least one station every 50 km (31 mi) for the country's 17 million residents.

[30] The average price per kWh at a public AC charging point in the Netherlands as of September 2023 was 40.4 eurocents.

When other vehicle classes (buses, heavy-duty truck, mopeds, etc) are accounted for, the Dutch plug-in fleet on the road climbs to 382,721 units.

[35] Sales in the Dutch plug-in market fell sharply during 2016 after changes in the tax rules that went into force at the beginning of 2016.

[11] By early October 2016, the Netherlands listed as the third largest European plug-in market, after being surpassed by both Norway and France, and in the global ranking fell from fourth to sixth place.

[36][37][38] The stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles registered in the Netherlands achieved the 100,000 unit milestone in November 2016.

[39][40] In 2013, the Netherlands reached a market concentration of 1.71 registered plug-in vehicles per 1,000 people, second only to Norway (4 per 1,000 people), and over three times higher than the world's two largest plug-in electric vehicle markets at the time, the United States and Japan.

[42][43] According to research report published by Navigant Research in April 2014, the fleet of light duty plug-in electric vehicles in use in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in 2013 is expected to represent 7.7% of the city's total registered light-duty vehicle stock.

[2][41] The segment's market share surged almost ten times from 2012 to 5.34% new car sales in the country during that year,[24] the world's second highest in 2013 after Norway (5.6%).

As of December 2012[update], the Mitsubishi i-MiEV family had sold 468 units since their release in 2010, including 252 iOns, 137 C-Zeros, and 79 i MiEVs.

[55] In addition, another record was set in November 2013, when for the first time in the Netherlands a plug-in electric vehicle was listed as the top selling new car that month.

[8][67] As of December 2015[update], the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV continues as the all-time top-selling plug-in car in the country with 24,506 registered.

Ranking second is the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid (14,470), followed by the Volkswagen Golf GTE (8,806), Opel Ampera (4,947 units), Tesla Model S (4,832), and Audi A3 e-tron (4,657).

[70] As of December 2016[update], the Outlander P-HEV remained as the all-time top-selling plug-in car in the country with 25,984 units registered at the end of that month.