The purchase of electric cars will be partially tax-free, Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings and his Economics colleague Maria van der Hoeven have proposed.

In order to turn the Netherlands into an international testbed for electrically propelled vehicles, purchase tax and road tax will not apply to such cars. The cost, 65 million euros, will be covered by the cabinet. In addition, the money will be used to subsidise companies that buy electric cars.

In an additional proposal, the cabinet is planning tax cuts for companies willing to invest in loading stations for electric cars. National authorities themselves will have to use electric vehicles as much as they can. The government is hoping that about one million electrically propelled cars will be on the Dutch roads by 2024.