The Dutch government confirms plan to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2030

Today, the new Dutch government presented its detailed plan for the coming years and it includes making all new cars emission-free by 2030 – virtually banning petrol- and diesel-powered cars in favor of battery-powered vehicles.

The four coalition parties have been negotiating their plans since the election in March and now after over 200 days, they have finally released the plan they agreed upon.

NL Times posted all the main points of the plan and in ‘transportation’, it includes:

• By 2030 all cars in the Netherlands must be emission free

While some local publications are reporting “all cars”, we are told that it would be for “all new cars” as it is the case for the countries with similar bans under consideration.

The potential for the ban has been under consideration in the country since last year. The year 2025, like in Norway, has been mentioned, but they apparently decided for the less ambitious goal of 2030.

With less than two percent market share for electric vehicles, the Netherlands has a long way to go to achieve its goal. Though it is a relatively small market for cars with about only half a million passenger cars are sold every year in the country.

A comprehensive zero-emission mandate combined with several new electric cars coming to market soon could make the goal achievable.

Currently, Tesla dominates the electric car market in the country. Model S and Model X are respectively the first and second best-selling EVs in the country, followed by the more recently launched Hyundai Ioniq Electric, which will grow even more soon with a new fleet in Amsterdam, and the BMW i3 in the fourth place.

Tesla has now a fleet of over 8,000 cars in the country, which the electric automaker actually made its European headquarters. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam and the company operates a final assembly plant in Tilburg. The first Tesla Model 3 was recently spotted in Europe was near the factory.

The Model 3, along with the next-gen Nissan Leaf and EVs coming from European automakers, are likely to help the Netherlands toward its new 2030 target.

They join several other countries and governments with similar efforts in the work. France, the UK, and Scotland, all recently announced efforts to ban petrol and gas-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles. China and California are also said to be working toward the goal.