Electric driving boosts economy and employment

Electric transport is good for the economy. Dutch charging stations, trucks and buses are gaining ground, also abroad. As a result, companies from our country earn some 5 billion euros annually. The number of green Dutch jobs is rising sharply, and is expected to double by 2025. This is according to a study conducted by the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) on behalf of State Secretary Van Veldhoven (Infrastructure and Water Management).

Van Veldhoven: "This is impressive growth, more than half in just a few years. The sector is growing like crazy, and is now about three times the already impressive size of the Dutch bicycle industry, for example. In the coming years, we will go full steam ahead to further clean up transport. We will all reap the benefits. Not only good for the climate and our clean air, but also for our wallets. And for people looking for work. Thousands of jobs will be created in the electric transport sector in the coming years."

There are currently some 7,000 full-time jobs in the electric transport sector, a third more than at the previous measuring point in 2018. Those jobs are mainly with builders of electric vehicles such as buses and trucks. There are also many jobs at charging station companies. Dutch companies lead the way in smart charging, in which the car's battery relieves the power grid. Dutch charge post companies operate across Europe, and increasingly in America as well.

Employment in the electric transport sector is expected to almost double by 2025. Some 13,500 people will then find full-time jobs as mechanics, car builders or charging station experts.

Companies in the Netherlands currently produce some €5 billion worth of electric cars, buses, trucks and other electric transport products, such as charging stations, every year. That more than half more than in 2018, when it was over 3 billion. This makes this sector about three times the size of the Dutch bicycle industry.

The growth is both in the Netherlands and across the border, and for the most part comes from building clean vehicles. DAF is known for its electric trucks. VDL also builds these, as well as electric buses for public transport. With Ebusco, the Netherlands has another major player in that field. Also in the field of hydrogen, the Netherlands has some frontrunners. Earlier this year, Holthausen won an order from New Zealand for the production of 1,500 hydrogen trucks. At the same time, new innovations are emerging. For instance, electric barges are being built in the Netherlands and the first fully electric camper vans have been built in the Netherlands.

Companies earn part of their money from exports, but there is also a lot of demand for clean transport and charging stations in the Netherlands itself. Relatively speaking, nowhere else are there as many public charging stations as in the Netherlands and smart charging is on the rise. Many of these charging points are operated by homegrown companies such as EV Box, New Motion, Alfen, Pitpoint or Allego. With over a thousand zero-emission buses in public transport, the Netherlands leads the way in Europe. And in the coming years, a sharp rise in the number of trucks driving emission-free is expected. More and more private individuals are also switching to an electric scooter or car. By 2020, a quarter of new cars in the Netherlands will be electric.

The industry reacts elated. Nancy Kabalt, chairman of the Formula E-team, in which industry, knowledge institutes and government work together on electric transport: "This report shows that the transition to electric driving creates opportunities for innovation, green growth and economic productivity in the Netherlands. Investing in electric transport is necessary to achieve the climate goals, so the new cabinet will have to express clear and firm ambitions and translate this into ambitious policies. That way, the EV sector will also grow in the coming years and the Netherlands will build on its position as an international leader."