Netherlands: sales of plug-in cars halved

Sales of electrical cars has dropped in Holland / Belga
Last year the sales of plug-in hybrid cars in Holland has halved. The reason for that is the increase of the value to be added to taxable income, but experts believe this drop in sales will only be temporary.
According to the figures of the Jaarmonitor Wegvoertuigen and Centraal Bureau Statistiek last year, Dutch customers bought only halve as much electric or hybrid cars compared to 2015. In 2015 45.000 plug-in cars were sold, in 2016 only 22.500. Maarten Steinbuch, professor robotics at Technical University Eindhoven, claims the rise of the addition (from 7 to 15 %) for hybrid vehicles is at the base of the collapse of plug-in car sales.
50% electric by 2025
The Dutch government wants to increase the number of plug-in cars in the years to come. This number should be doubled by 2020 to 200.000 cars. By 2025 halve of the cars that will be sold must have a plug. Today 79% of the cars have a petrol engine and only 3% has an electric drive. Steinbach says this will change and he even believes by 2025 85% of the new cars will be a plug-in car.
Average range of 300 km
“Electric cars will become more affordable and will realize a better range”, Steinbach says. “By 2018 a lot of new models will come to the market and by 2021 an electric car will perform an estimated driving range of 300 km. Infrastructure will improve, so motorists with electric cars will be able tot drive to the Mediterranean.”
Bounty
Steinbach advises the government to give a bounty for customers buying electrical cars. Last year in Germany 1 billion euro was spent to promote electrical vehicles. In Berlin a subsidy is granted for electrical vehicles. 50% of it is paid by the government, the other halve will be paid by car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler. He also says the industry of electric vehicles last year created 8.000 jobs in Holland. “To keep this business in Holland, the government must stimulate customers to buy electric vehicles”, he adds.
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