The number of electric vehicles in the Netherlands has surged amid rising energy prices. Fully electric vehicles increased by 22 percent year-on-year, reaching nearly 700,000 units in early 2026.
THE HAGUE, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The number of electric vehicles (EVs), including fully electric vehicles (FEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), has surged amid rising energy prices, according to the latest data released by the Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Friday.
There are now over 2 million EVs on Dutch roads, accounting for some 21 percent of the total 9.4 million passenger vehicles in the country in early 2026, CBS said.
Among the EVs, HEVs and PHEVs have been the most popular, with around 800,000 units, up 19 percent compared with a year earlier. FEVs are also seeing rapid growth with their numbers rising by 22 percent over the past year, reaching nearly 700,000 in early 2026, according to CBS.
The shift is even more pronounced in new car sales. In 2018, just over 11 percent of newly-sold passenger cars were EVs. The share had surged to nearly 86 percent by 2025, CBS said.
Meanwhile, the share of petrol-powered vehicles among new sales has dropped sharply -- from 75 percent in 2018 to just 13 percent in 2025. Diesel vehicles continue to lose popularity, accounting for only 1 percent of new car sales last year, CBS noted.
The tension in the Middle East and rising fuel prices are accelerating the transition to EVs in the Netherlands, CBS said. ■
