Amsterdam businesses get €3m for electric car

Amsterdam Electric Cars

Businesses in the Dutch city of Amsterdam are set to receive 3 million euros in subsidies from the government in an effort to encourage the switch to electric cars. The city hope to have 10,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

Companies in the city will be able to apply for up to 50 percent of the costs of buying an electric vehicle up to a maximum of 15,000 euros for a car, 25,000 euros for a van or 45,000 euros for a truck or taxi. Grants of up to 250,000 euros are also available for businesses wanting to invest in an electric fleet of up to 20 vehicles.

The grant scheme is the latest initiative to support the city council's more farsighted goal of having 200,000 battery-driven vehicles on Amsterdam's roads by 2040.

Giving electric cars priority

The city's electric vehicle scheme will also be supported by the allocation of reserved parking spaces for electric vehicles and the installation of 45 charging stations, rising to 200 charge points by 2012. Energy firm Nuon will provide renewable energy for the charging stations, which will be installed by Coulomb technologies.

The city's plans involve a rather high tech process in which owners of electric cars will be able to subscribe to the network via a special website allowing them to charge their car at any of the charging stations using a smart card (pictured). Green drivers will also receive a number of other benefits such as priority drivers of normal combustion cars for parking permits, for which there is currently a five-year waiting list.

Amsterdam is also one of the cities planning to participate in a potential major European effort to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and last year took delivery of an initial 500 TH!NK city cars.

European super-grid

"Business and enterprise is at the heart of any major city, and targeting this sector with such generous subsidies we think will change the face of business transport in the city," said TH!NK CEO Richard Canny.

"We are increasing our EV sales forecasts in the Netherlands on the back of this announcement, and urge other forward-thinking, green European cities to follow Amsterdam's lead with this marvellous initiative."

The EU is highly determined to develop the use of clean sources of power with nine nations now signed up to the idea of a northern European super-grid, and the UK has also taken steps to encourage the use of green vehicles with plans to turn parts of the M4 motorway into a "hydrogen highway".

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Daniel Jones

Daniel is a Politics and Philosophy graduate from Cardiff University where he also worked as a section editor on the award winning student newspaper. After university he joined an IT support company where he was a B2B online writer. He loves anything to do with sport and joined GDS in July 2009.

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