Today is World EV Day, a day created by a partnership of various companies to ‘celebrate e-mobility’ and reflect on the transition to sustainable transport. Which models have accelerated this transition here in the Netherlands? These are five electric cars that have done well in our country, looking at EVs that sold well for their time and more recent sales hits.
1. Tesla Model 3
The Model S was the car that opened the Dutch market for Tesla, but the Model 3 really started to work. The Model 3 was presented to the public on March 31, 2016, and the first deliveries in the Netherlands only followed in 2019. Tesla had quite a few start-up problems with production. Things went quickly in 2019, because partly due to the unfavorable addition rules for fully electric cars in 2020, the business driver wanted to quickly register a Model 3. That led to the above scene in Amsterdam Westpoort (see photo): 29,948 Model 3s were delivered in 2019, about twice as many copies of the Model S as Tesla had sold in our country in total. The biggest run on the Model 3 has already been. This year, 3,330 Model 3s have been delivered to date. But with a sales total of 33,282 cars over a span of just two years, the Tesla Model 3 can rightly be called a record holder.
2. Nissan Leaf
The Nissan Leaf (fully registered as: Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car) is considered a pioneer in the C-segment. In appearance the Leaf was mainly designed to look like a fairly ‘normal’ car, with which Nissan it mainstream part of the market tried to entice the purchase of an EV. It was introduced in 2010 and in 2011 the Leaf made its first appearance on the European market, where the EV immediately won the ‘European Car of the Year’ award. However, the range of the first generation Leaf was still limited and in 2011 there were not nearly as many charging points as now. In 2018, the sales figures of the Leaf in the Netherlands suddenly spurt with the introduction of the second generation, which looks a lot smoother than the first generation. In addition, the range became a lot larger and the second generation brought more power. Sales increased sixfold and to date a total of 11,592 copies of the Leaf have been sold in our country.
3. Tesla Model S
Of course, the Tesla Model S should not be missing from this list. Tesla is the manufacturer that more or less shook up the established order and forced them to develop and market EVs earlier than planned. Tesla started developing the Roadster, a small all-electric sports car on the chassis of a Lotus Elise. This was obviously not a volume model. In 2009, the prototype Model S was presented to the public, a slick looking sedan that immediately seemed to be popular. The Model S went into production in 2012. Only then did things go fast with the image of Tesla. The Model S broke with a generous range, supercar-equaling performance and a futuristic interior with the assumption that EVs are boring. 8 years later, the Model S is still in production, albeit in a slightly modified form with upgraded powertrains. A completely new generation is in the pipeline, but a definitive reveal has yet to follow. Over the years, 14,559 copies of the Model S have been sold in the Netherlands. The model reached its peak in 2018, when no less than 5,622 cars were delivered. In 2019, the so-called ‘Tesla tax’ was introduced, which meant that the favorable addition rate of 4% from now on only applied up to and including a catalog value of € 50,000.
4. BMW i3
BMW had a first with the i3: it was the first brand of the German Three to market a mass-produced electric car. In contrast to the second generation of the Nissan Leaf, BMW wanted to create a striking car with the i3 that deviated from the norm. The ‘suicide doors’ are perhaps the most striking. The i3 entered the market in 2013 and since then the compact hatchback has been in production in a relatively unchanged form, with mainly the powertrain being improved in 2017. In 2018, the i3s followed, which was sportier and brought more power. 2017 was also the year in which the sales numbers of the i3 in the Netherlands started to increase. A total of 7,673 copies were sold in our country, with the focus in 2019. Then 2,681 people were allowed to call themselves the happy owner of the electric BMW, which was also available with a ‘range extender’, to allay the fear of an empty battery among new customers.
5. Kia e-Niro / Hyundai Kona Electric
Two other electric sales toppers in our country are the Kia e-Niro and the Hyundai Kona Electric. We mention them in the same breath because they share similar technology under the skin. Both cars are very successful on the market this year and are also from the same group. The e-Niro in particular is an attractive offer. It is spacious on the inside, but at the same time has a battery with a size of 64 kWh, which means a WLTP range of 455 km is achieved. With a starting price of € 43,275, it is also just on the right side of the addition limit. In 2020, up to a tax value of € 45,000, the favorable rate of 8% applies to EVs, which means that the e-Niro is an attractive option for the business driver. This is evident from this year’s sales figures, because the e-Niro is the best-selling EV of 2020 in the Netherlands with 3,725 units sold. The total counter now stands at 7,458 pieces. The Kona Electric is also popular, but currently with 1,894 cars sold in 2020, it is not reaching its group mate.