Number of plug-in cars in the Netherlands surpasses a million for the first time

The number of plug-in cars in the Netherlands has exceeded a million for the first time, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has reported. Vehicles that are completely electric and plug-in hybrids fall under plug-in cars. These vehicles have a combustion engine in addition to a plug. This was also the first time that there were more private individuals with a plug-in vehicle than business drivers.

There was a total of 9.3 million cars in the Netherlands on April 1, 594,000 of these were electric, with another 410,000 being plug-in hybrides. Petrol is still the most common fuel type. Three-quarters of the vehicles drive on petrol.

However, the number of petrol cars has decreased by 1.3 percent compared to the previous year, while the number of plug-in cars has risen by a third. The number of hybrid cars without a plug rose by almost 24 percent, and the number of diesel cars dropped by over 12 percent.

The number of plug-in cars in private ownership amounted to 503,000, compared to 442,000 in business ownership. Among business drivers, the plug-in car remains popular. Of the business cars, 39 percent are plug-in cars. Among private individuals, that is 6 percent.

The highest share of privately owned plug-in vehicles can be found in the municipality of Rozendaal, where 15.7 percent of all vehicles are plug-in cars. Blaricum (14.2 percent) and Laren (13.8 percent) came second and third when it comes to the highest share of plug-in cars. The lowest number of plug-in cars was in Staphorst, with just 3.3 percent.

Plug-in cars drove just over 17.7 billion kilometers in 2024. Of this, 10 billion kilometers were driven by business-owned vehicles. Almost 15 percent of the total kilometers driven by all vehicles in the country was driven with a plug-in car.

This is a significant increase compared to five years ago when the share of kilometers driven by plug-in cars was 3.3 percent.