On January 1, 2021, the Netherlands had almost 8.8 million passenger cars. Of these, only 174,000 were fully electric, representing a share of 1.97 percent. However, the number of electric cars in the Netherlands is growing rapidly. Although electric driving is still a business matter. Nearly 80 percent of EVs are owned by a lease driver.
The number of passenger cars in the Netherlands continues to grow, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands. As of January 1, 2021, 156,000 more units had been registered than a year earlier, representing an increase of 1.3 percent. Of the 8.8 million cars, 80 percent runs on petrol (plus 1.5 percent). The number of diesels decreased by 9.1 percent.
Number of electric cars increased by 63 percent
The real increase is in plug-in cars: plug-in hybrids and fully electric models. In 2020, the number rose by 76,000 to more than 273,000 (plus 38 percent). Plug-in hybrids are starting to gain popularity again, but they still lag behind EVs. The number of registered electric cars increased by 63 percent in 2020.
The vast majority of EVs in the hands of business drivers
Of the 8.8 million cars in the Netherlands, only 3.1 percent have a plug. If we remove the plug-in hybrids from that, there remains a share of just under 2 percent for the fully electric cars. That these are still too expensive for private individuals is shown by the fact that 78 percent of EVs have a business owner.
Subsidy for private individuals leads to an increase
Since 2020, private individuals can receive a subsidy if they buy or privately lease an electric car: 4000 euros for a new one, 2000 euros for a used one. The jar was empty after a few days in 2020 and 2021, but the incentive nevertheless resulted in a doubling of the number of private EV drivers.
Plug-in hybrid out of favor with business drivers
It is sad to see how the Dutch car market is driven by tax breaks. A few years ago, plug-in hybrids were still very popular among business drivers. Now that they don’t have any advantages anymore. The number of lease drivers with a plug-in hybrid decreased by 32 percent. Plug-ins are now more popular with individuals (plus 78 percent).
40 percent of all EVs registered in December
The extent to which the electric car market is driven by addition can be seen in the sales statistics for 2020. More than 40 percent (!) of EVs were registered in December 2020, the month before the low addition was to go from 8 to 12 percent. Then in January hardly anyone bought an electric car anymore.