Over 300,000 electric cars in Netherlands, with Almere leading the charge

Although electric vehicles still make up only a small percent of cars in the Netherlands, they are rapidly gaining popularity. In the first nine months of 2022, nearly 21 percent of all cars sold were emissions-free, according to De Volkskrant.

In the Netherlands, only 3.3 percent of the total amount of cars are currently electric. This is a little over 300,000 electric cars. However, 2022 has seen the biggest boom ever in sales of emissions-free vehicles –– almost double the sales of 2021.

Almere was the municipality with the highest percentage of electric vehicles at 15 percent, followed by Houten, Breda, Amersfoort and Tynaarlo. One explanation for this could be that large car leasing offices have their branches in these municipalities, according to De Volkskrant. Vlieland, Pekela and Westerwolde were the municipalities with the fewest electric cars at less than 1 percent.

Hybrid cars are a little less popular, but they have also seen a jump in sales in recent years. In 2022, so far, hybrid cars have constituted around 12 percent of vehicles sold.

From 2035, all cars sold in the European Union must be free of emissions and combustion engines will be banned.