Skip to main content

Dutch electric car sales double in past year

The sale of electric cars in the Netherlands nearly doubled from 579 cars in August 2012 to 1,120 cars in August 2013, according to the Dutch vehicle registration authority VWE.
September 18, 2013 Read time: 1 min
The sale of electric cars in the Netherlands nearly doubled from 579 cars in August 2012 to 1,120 cars in August 2013, according to the Dutch vehicle registration authority VWE.

The overall increase is said to be due to rising sales of range extender vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, largely thanks to fiscal regulations that enable companies to claim back up to 75% of the purchasing costs. However, these vehicles are often not as sustainable as expected, because drivers often choose to drive on petrol instead of on electricity, while the weight of the electric generator makes the car use more fuel.

The lower sales of cars fuelled solely by electricity are said by VWE to be due to concerns over the maximum distance the cars can travel.

Related Content

  • Innovative diesel-electric bulldozer
    July 12, 2012
    With the launch of its innovative D7E diesel-electric bulldozer, Caterpillar has shaken up this traditionally conservative market Only rarely do product innovations come to market that can truly be described as groundbreaking, but Caterpillar's D7E fits that bill. To understand the giant leap that the D7E represents, it is important to recognise Caterpillar's long history in the bulldozer market, which is unmatched by any of its rivals. Caterpillar pioneered the crawler track with founder, Ben Holt, havin
  • Excavator remains the key earthmoving tool
    February 17, 2012
    The excavator remains the key earthmoving tool, Mike Woof reports. The versatile hydraulic excavator has been at the heart of most earthmoving projects around the world for many years, a dominance that looks set to remain. Because of the importance to the construction sector of the excavator, manufacturers are keen to upgrade and improve their competing machines on an almost continuous basis. New technology proliferates in hydraulic excavators while firms are also focussing on increasing the range of tasks
  • Diesel hybrid vehicles reduce emissions
    May 8, 2012
    The introduction of diesel hybrid vehicles in Europe will help reduce CO2 emissions. Automotive OEMs are now developing and introducing low-emission vehicles and by 2015, every other new car sold in Europe will have CO2 emissions in the range of 101-120grammes/km, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan.
  • Road user charging proposed for Denmark
    February 15, 2013
    The joint proposal by 3F, the Danish trade union for the transport sector, and think-tank Kraka to replace vehicle registration fees with a GPS-based road user charging system is worth noting. According to 3F and Kraka, this would reduce congestion on Danish roads and generate savings worth €536 million (DKK 4 billion) for the nation’s finances. There is nothing new in this concept as such. Road user charging was proposed a few years ago for the UK and also for the Netherlands. But in the UK this proposal p