It is now possible to drive a fully electric car. A small number of people in the Netherlands are using an electric car to commute between home and work. However, it still requires some adjustment, and it’s not cheap either.
 
Marjan Minnesma is the director of Urgenda, a foundation which promotes electric motoring. At the same time, she is one of just a few Dutch people who have put their money where their mouths are, and uses her fully electrical Think vehicle to go to work and run errands, in short, the same way the average Dutch person uses their petrol-powered vehicle. 

Minnesma – sat behind the steering wheel – is visibly pleased with her Think, an electric car made in Norway. However, she readily admits to having changed her driving habits. She always has to take into account that her range is limited to about 180 kilometres. If she has an appointment further than 80 kilometres away, meaning she cannot make it back on the same charge, she has to make advance arrangements:
 
"We usually just simply ask people: "Is there a wall plug nearby because we will bring an extension cord and we would like to recharge the car during the meeting, or whatever it is”. Most people think it’s great. I have seen secretaries crawling across the floor looking for an outlet, you get to see the craziest situations..."
 
Even though Marjan feels it’s kind of funny, she also puts her finger on the problem with electric motoring: a network of charging points, let alone the promised quick-charging points, is not available yet. The infrastructure necessary for a mass introduction of the electric car is simply not there. The construction of such a network has been put on the agenda for the coming years: a government investment of tens of million of euros is to ensure that at least 10,000 charging points will be available by 2012.
 
Plugging in
It will also take some getting used to always remember to plug in your car as soon as you come home. The Think needs more than 10 hours to fully recharge, but these figures will soon improve. Recharging will take less time and range will increase, but, once again, this is still in the future.
 
However, there is also an upside. Charging your car only costs four euros for a range of 180 kilometres, much, much cheaper than any petrol or diesel powered car. And the Think, like any other electric car, is pleasant to drive. It is quiet and powerful. In daily practice, the 180 kilometre range is nearly always sufficient. This will come as no surprise considering that the average Dutch commuter only covers about 60 kilometres a day. And finally it’s a good feeling to know that you are motoring along without emitting a single gram of carbon dioxide, which, after all, is what is all about. 
 
Too expensive
The main problem right now is really the price of electric cars. At 39,000 euros, Marjan Minnesma’s car – the cheapest on the market – is still way too expensive. Electric cars are still attractive to businesses because they are eligible for all kinds of environmental subsidies, but private motorists have no such luck. And Marjan Minnesma frankly admits the price is a problem. While steering her car onto the motorway, she explains that the Urgenda foundation is about to force through a price decrease:
 
'At Urgenda we are planning a mega-purchase together with a large number of companies. We will launch what is known as a tender. This means that an order for no less than 4,000 electric cars – worth several million euros - will go to the manufacturer which can meet a certain number of demands, including range, charging time, but primarily a price which is in line with market prices for similar fossil fuel-powered cars.'
 
Marjan believes it will take three years.