The Netherlands had almost 22,000 all-electric passenger cars (FEVs) on 1 January 2018. With this, the number of FEVs in our country has increased by almost 60% in a year's time.
This reports CBS. In total, almost 120,000 so-called plug-in passenger cars, also known as plug-in cars, were driving around on Dutch roads on 1 January 2018. This is an increase of 9% compared to 1 January 2017, when 109,434 plug-in cars were registered in the Netherlands.
More FEVs as well as PHEVs
21,480 of these vehicles are fully electric, which is a whopping 60% more than the 13,709 units registered in the Netherlands on 1 January 2017. The number of PHEVs on Dutch roads has also increased. On 1 January 2018, there were 97,270 of them, up from 95,725 a year earlier. This represents an increase of 1.6%.
This continues a trend that has been visible for some time: the growth in the number of PHEVs is levelling off, while the number of FEVs is growing faster and faster. On 1 January 2016, for instance, 76,250 PHEVs were registered in the Netherlands, more than twice as many as the 36,750 driving around the country a year earlier. At the beginning of 2017, this number grew to 95,725 units, representing a 37.8% increase. Last year, therefore, growth slowed further to 1.6%.
At the same time, the number of FEVs is growing faster and faster. For instance, on 1 January 2016, a total of 9,950 FEVs were registered in the Netherlands, 34.5% more than on 1 January 2015. At the beginning of 2017, this number rose to 13,709 units, representing a growth of 37.8%. In 2017, the number increased again; almost 22,000 FEVs were driving around in the Netherlands at the beginning of 2018, up 60% from a year earlier.
Almost twice as many FEVs sold
The sales figures of FEVs and PHEVs also reflect this trend. For instance, almost 8,200 new FEVs were sold in 2017, which is almost twice as many as a year earlier. During the same period, 1,800 new PHEVs were sold, which is a factor of 10 lower than a year earlier. This puts 2017 in the books as the first year in which more FEVs than PHEVs were sold.
The sharp drop in the number of PHEVs sold is related to the changing tax regime for zero- and low-emission cars, such as the tightening of addition rules, according to CBS. FEVs were not subject to an additional taxable benefit until 2014; from 2014, the additional tax rate is 4%. The additional taxable benefit for PHEVs increased from 7% in 2015 to 15% in 2016. Since 1 January 2017, at 22%, the additional tax rate is the same as that for petrol and diesel cars. These changes were announced in 2015 and resulted in consumers bringing forward the purchase of a new car to take advantage of the older and more favourable scheme.
1.4% of Dutch car fleet is electric
Despite the growing number of PHEVs and FEVs, the number of electric vehicles compared to the entire Dutch fleet remains very limited at 1.4%. Also, the total number of plug-in cars in the Netherlands increased less rapidly last year than in previous years.
At the same time, CBS points out that 2.7 of all new passenger cars sold in the Netherlands in 2017 were FEVs or PHEVs. This still puts the Netherlands among the leading group in the European Union (EU); only Sweden has a higher number at 5.19%.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: CBS
Source photo: Pixabay / Joenomias
