Dutch government rolls back support for EVs

The new Dutch government plans to roll back fiscal support for the acquisition of new electric vehicles (EVs), anonymous sources close to the coalition talks have revealed to national broadcaster NOS. 

Previously, the Dutch political parties reached a Klimaatakkoord (‘Climate Agreement’) stipulating, among other measures, a subsidy of €6,000 for the acquisition of a new EV. 

But the prospective coalition partners have now agreed to halve that amount, and to increase the bijtelling (a tax on private use of company cars) for EVs from 4% to 8% or even 10%. 

For EVs over €40,000, the bijtelling would be equal to that of fossil-fuel cars. And furthermore, all proposed increases in taxes or excise duties for petrol and diesel cars have been put on hold. 

Until now, the Netherlands has been at the forefront of the global movement for the electrification of mobility. These measures, if approved, will likely have a huge, negative impact on the further development of electric mobility in the Netherlands.  

Meanwhile, the Mobiliteitsalliantie ('Mobility Alliance') – a coalition of 25 stakeholders from the automobile, bicycle and public transport and road haulage sectors – has published a Deltaplan, with remedies for the country's worsening congestion problems. 

The plan calls for increasingly flexible mobility options (including MaaS), road pricing, the abolition of the vehicle registration tax, and annual investments in mobility infrastructure of €3 billion between until 2040. The Alliance says the benefits of these investments will amount to €18 billion per annum. 

Reacting to the plan, prospective coalition party VVD has repeated its opposition to road pricing.