Volt Netherlands was founded in Utrecht on 23 June 2018, with Reinier van Lanschot as its inaugural chairman.

[9][10] The three seats of Volt were filled by Laurens Dassen, Nilüfer Gündoğan, and Marieke Koekkoek.

She filed charges of libel and defamation against Volt, Dassen, and her accusers, and challenged the expulsion in civil court.

However, according to party statements, Volt Netherlands had failed to achieve gender-equal lists of candidates in some municipalities and was therefore contesting in fewer places than planned.

[19] Sophie in 't Veld, a member of the European Parliament for D66, announced on 16 June 2023 that she had left her party and joined Volt.

[20] On 7 April 2024, she was elected as the European lead candidate for Volt Europa together with Damian Boeselager.

It also wants to ban short-haul flights, expand public transport and invest in a European rail network,[23][25] abolish subsidies for fossil fuels and close polluting factories until they become more sustainable,[25] ban manufacturers from destroying unused clothing and electronics.

To this end, more investment is to be made in hydrogen, artificial intelligence and the reuse of materials with a view to a circular economy.

[23] The party sees immense opportunities in AI systems, but at the same time emphasises that these should not be blindly left to the free market.

Among other things, Volt proposes providing every citizen with their own AI chatbot based on open source and reliable data.

Volt also wants to oblige AI providers to disclose data sources and emphasises the need for transparency.

[25][24] The party wants to ban short-haul flights and instead wants to expand public transport and invest in a European network of high-speed trains.