EVs in the Netherlands

Dear reader,

(under construction)
as Twitter user @egghat from Germany noted: there are a lot more electric vehicles (EVs) currently in the Netherlands than in Germany.

He asked why there's a difference and here are some answers translated from available Dutch websites:


Please note that ANWB is the Dutch counterpart of British AA or German ADAC motor club.

"Early 2016 there have been some 91000 electric vehicles counted on Dutch roads"  source: ANWB 

According to this source the number has increased to almost 112000 at the end of December 2016 (an increase of 28% year on year)
Fully electric vehicle share was 13105 units (some 40% increase), the rest plug-in-hybrids
Ranking fully EVs:
Tesla:            6049 cars
Nissan Leaf:  1757 cars
Renault Zoe: 1377 cars

hybrids:
Mitsubishi Outlander: 25984
Volvo V60 phev: 15804
VW Golf GTE: 10691
(all numbers from source verkeerspro.nl)

the range of various EVs
Top 50 [ev-database.nl, Dutch]
Bereik=range
Topsnelheid=maximum speed

What are the costs of driving electric ? (Dutch, ANWB)
Prices in Euro,
benzine=gasoline/petrol
verschil=difference 

some excerpts:
If you can charge your car at home or at work, it costs approx 1/2 of gasoline, if not costs are roughly equal those of gasoline.

(regular prices for electricity are in the range of 18.5-20.5 €Ct per kWh, including all taxes )

Maintenance costs
are about 40% of regular cars if it runs 100% on a battery, plug-in hybrids +-70% of regular cars

Tax incentives
Because cars are taxed quite heavy in the Netherlands, the government has plenty of tools to stimulate the purchase of an electric car.
1st the tax on new cars (BPM) does not apply to fully electric cars and cars running on hydrogen.
2nd the tax for private use of business cars is considerably lower than for conventional cars
(4 % taxation per year instead of 22%)
Tax reduction scheme for eco friendly investments
additional source: 
econ ministry website 

registration taxes like BPM explained in German: Wikipedia

Subsidies
Some municipalities offer extra incentives for the purchase of a full electric vehicle
Amsterdam for registered businesses:
cars: max. 5000€ (for business related travel & taxis)
trucks & buses: max. 40000€
source: City of Amsterdam

The Hague
cars: max 3000€ for used cars & 5000€ for new ones (100% EV vans & cabs) 
source: The Hague

possibly new subsidies in 2017
(lobby group suggests 6000€ per car, article describes how earlier subsidies have been wasted and government tries to avoid that in future, econ minister Kamp's goal for 2020: 10% EV share new registrations)
source: RTLZ, June 2016

a list of fully electric cars available in NL  (Dutch, ANWB)
including range in KM and retail prices (in €)

EV top 10 lowest consumption per 100 KM (Dutch, ANWB)
in kWh and vehicle's range

Already many charging stations available
(map EV-Box here)
BENELUX Map provided by https://oplaadpalen.nl/?sw=N :
 



Utilities like NUON offering charging stations for individuals for e.g. 659€ as well as for companies & municipalities  

review Opel Ampera (Volkskrant, 2017, Dutch)

Former 'couple' Germany and The Netherlands

Former 'couple' Germany and The Netherlands

as Max Pam of Dutch TV program 'Buitenhof' asks in his column when the Dutch and the German economy have split, and what are the causes for this to happen here are some answers:

First it has to be confirmed that the statements in Max Pam's column where German and Dutch economies once acted like 'northern European twins' are true. 
The one interconnected to the other, not only by their central banks with almost identical emphasis on prize stability, but also by their bilateral trade links, and even by some almost identical parts of infrastructure, like the havens of Rotterdam and Hamburg are for both export oriented countries their gate to the world market.

So some commentators on Twitter argued on their assumption that lack of consumer confidence is the only reason for sluggish consumer spending. One has to know that Dutch people are being subjected to bad economic news concerning housing market, pension cuts and other bad stuff almost on a daily basis, where some economists even started to warn of an negative effect of repeating bad news into a self fulfilling prophecy. 

So people tend to think the split between currently successful  German economy and Dutch economy is because of difference in consumer spending based on lack of 'consumer confidence'. Well, partially yes, but the German retail sector has also its difficulties (Big supermarket chain 'Schlecker' went bust recently), the 2nd and more important fact is, that both economies are heavily export oriented. Although Mathijs Bouman (Dutch economist) recently put up some evidence that 70% figures (Link) for Dutch export part of GDP is largely exaggerated.(CBS data)

So one part of the answer is that Germany put much more effort into investment (the mother of all growth) in its 'green sector' by not only building huge production capacity for its domestic ecopower section but also pumped large chunks of cash into energy preservation by housing insulation etc.
The roughly estimated cost for the buildup of its solar power capacity of some 25 GW was good for some 75bn € only for the 1+ million installed smaller plants between 2000-2011. 

Additional investments in local and national grid summed up also to Billions while the combined installed wind power capacity reached some 23 GW with approx 46 Bn € (taking into account average price per KW peak capacity) (** find and insert exact numbers**)    

The Netherlands <> Germany bilateral trade

CBS: Exports to Germany increased by 20% in 2010 (CBS data) (dut)
         Dutch im/exports targeted on a limited number of countries (CBS data)(dut)

Pinokkio:"Our GDP rose after introduction of Euro" (De Pers) (dut)
"In The Hague there is always today, never tomorrow" (FD) (dut)

source: thomsonreuters.com datastream
Some German economic data:

Germany's economy (Wiki ger)

Trade:
BDI Foreign trade growth 2012: "3 pct +X" (focus) (ger) 
German exports to Greece tumble (handelsblatt) (ger)
Trade balance: German exports first time above 1000 bn (Die Zeit) (ger)
German industry expects export boom (Die Welt) (ger) 

Energy: 
German green industry domestic investments and distributed costs:
(long term projection) Langfristszenarien EEG Auswirkungen (pdf ger)

German power production details and comparison (Wiki ger)
German energy consumption (Wiki ger)
German energy consumption in detail 2011 (AG Energiebilanzen , pdf, ger) 
investment projection renewables Germany 2010-2020: 159,5 bn € (prognos,pdf,ger) 

Power grid in the North Sea to be extended (FAZ, ger) 

Duitsland verslaat Nederland (May 2nd 2013, video, Nieuwsuur, Dutch)
Text above excerpted from greater European solution: Economic policy first, fiscal policy follows

The Netherlands

The Netherlands.


8 superior charts on Dutch economy 2007 - 2012 (by Scott Barber/Reuters)


Dec 11th According to an interview today, Sunday with Dutch finance minister De Jager rules have now to be changed in the way that:


National parliaments must provide numbers of future budgets to European commission where they will be checked. And if they are over the predefined limit automatic sanctions will be imposed UNLESS some 85% of EZ member votes stop those.


30 new laws on bank recap and enhanced regulation were announced.


He didn't elaborate much on the growth part of the "big summit" ...only that he referred to the Eurozone plus package.


Dec 13th Dutch central planning agency: Netherlands in recession now. GDP will shrink 0,5% in 2012. Budget deficit will reach 4,1%, unemployment will rise (link in dutch)


Translated articles:
CPB: "Financial transaction tax not efficient"
Berlin, Helsinki and The hague to strengthen IMF
Nov 25th 2011 The handling of the euro crisis must be quicker
Nov 21st 2011 De Jager: „If you have savings, spend them“
British research institute investigates return of guilder on behalf of PVV
Nov 20th 2011 CPB: little extra prosperity by Euro
ECB and IMF looking for crisis solutions
Dec 22nd 2011 The coup of Knot (president dutch central bank)
Dutch household debt

Dutch household debt

Mortgage Burden Looms Over Dutch