An extensive survey conducted by Europe’s largest leasing company, ALD Automotive, with +1 500 lease car drivers, shows the Dutch EV driver (69%) is slowly getting cured of his ‘range anxiety’, the fear of getting stuck with an empty battery. But ICE drivers persist in their delusion.

Most EV drivers (79%) are positive about the Dutch charging infrastructure, which is the most extensive in Europe. But, sparing as Dutch can be, they increasingly prefer to charge at work. Of those still driving an ICE lease car, 59% are convinced of a saturated charging network pleading against EVs.

25% charging at work

ALD conducted the survey end of last year with 1 583 lease drivers, both its clientele and other companies’ clients. Of them, around 700 were already driving an electric leased car. They increasingly see the benefit of charging at work, as energy prices were soaring. Last year, 60% of these EV drivers still charged at home and 15% at work. Now 49% charges at home, 25% at work.

According to ALD’s general director Jeroen Kruisweg, that evolution is a positive. “We notice that employers are more often installing charging points for employees. This helps to relieve pressure on the public charging infrastructure in urban areas and helps to accelerate the adoption of driving electric in general.”

Too few charging points?

But still, a quarter of all charging sessions are at public infrastructure. The continuous complaining about too few charging points, fueled by the car industry, is slowing down with those driving an EV today. 

Only 39% of them see the saturation of the charging network as an argument not to choose an EV today. Navigation apps like the one from FastNed (36%) or Google Maps (24%) facilitate finding a free charging spot.

One-third never heard of smart charging

Solutions like smart charging at home during off-peak hours to relieve the pressure on the network or even bi-directional charging are no option for 83% of EV drivers. A third of them even never heard of it. Meanwhile, for most gasoline car drivers (59%), over-saturation motivates the decision to stick with fossil fuels.

Still, both groups remain critical of the government, accusing it of few investments to have the charging infrastructure match the EV rollout. Distrust is fading from 64% last year to 60% now. Most heard reproaches are that too little is done to create private charging possibilities like on your driveway. And the untransparent charging prices.