Teslas and other vehicles can be seen plugged in on practically every street corner thanks to a network of some 75,000 stations – nearly a third of the entire EU total. Investing to put enough charging stations in the reach of drivers is crucial for countries that have set targets for an all-electric car future.
Nienke Bergsma, a 37-year-old mature student, decided to buy an electric car when four charging posts were installed at the bottom of her Rotterdam road, saying she wanted to “contribute to the protection of the environment”.
Around one in every five out of 400,000 new cars sold annually in the Netherlands is now electric, due partly to tax breaks and other incentives during the last decade.
But the Dutch government has also ensured that drivers have the infrastructure to support efforts to kick the addiction to fossil fuels.
It wants all new cars to be electric from 2030 in the Netherlands, where road traffic accounts for a fifth of greenhouse-gas emissions, and the country is proving particularly well-suited to electric vehicles.
Fully charged, Bergsma’s Volvo has a range of 400km, a distance that the environment and natural sciences student practically never travels.
Still not enough
The Dutch began to encourage electric cars in 2012, far sooner than Paris or Berlin. In addition to the 75,000 public charging stations, around 190,000 people have their own charging post at home.
Around 30% of Europe’s electric vehicle charging points are in the Netherlands, and about half of the public or semi-public stations are in the two provinces where Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam are located. Most can be used just by scanning a card.
In towns, every electric car user has the right to a charging station within 200m of their home; while in the countryside, motorists have their own posts, with 75% of those generating electricity by solar power.
The standard chargers “fill up” a car overnight or in several hours. Rapid chargers such as those at motorway service stations can refill cars’ batteries in 30 minutes.
But despite everything there still aren’t enough, said Bergsma, who charges her car every four nights. Even avoiding the evening rush hour, she often has to spend 15 minutes looking for a charger, and said she now always makes sure she never empties the battery to avoid getting stuck.
“It’s frustrating,” she said, pointing to a charger blocked by a large plant box.