Prime Minister Balkenende embraces Electric Mobility Action Plan
On the opening night of the AutoRAI, Prime Minister Balkenende and Minister Camiel Eurlings (Transport, Public Works & Water Management) were on hand to receive the Electric Mobility Action Plan from the Netherlands Society for Nature and Environment and the three partner universities of technology. The plan is intended to get one million electric cars on the road by 2020.
Upon receiving the plan at the AutoRAI, Prime Minister Balkenende commented, 'I am extremely pleased to see your goal of one million electric cars in 2020. This is exactly the kind of milestone we need to put on the horizon. I am entirely convinced that this is the direction we need to be moving in. I think it's a fantastic initiative. Now let's see that Formula-E Team happen!'
The Formula-E Team will be a cooperation of electricity companies, governmental authorities, corporate and auto industry partners, fleet owners, emergency services and environmental organisations that will be working together in new ways in order to put the action plan into practice.
Mirjam de Rijk asked Prime Minister Balkenende and Minister Eurlings to ensure that the electricity on which the one million electric cars would be driving 'is green power, generated from sources like wind energy.' Electric cars, she said, must not become the excuse to build more coal plants.
Action plan
One part of the action plan provides for the start of a large-scale pilot for controlled testing of the first electric cars in the Netherlands:
The plan is being supported by Eneco, the Dutch auto club ANWB, ProRail, the Municipality of Amsterdam, Athlon Car Lease and Rabobank.
the?c,mm,n living lab. This is how c,mm,n is combining innovation, the generation of economic added value and sustainability objectives.
Read the Electric Mobility Action Plan press release
Download the electric mobility action plan (English version)
Download the background document (Dutch only)
The Netherlands is to be a testing and development market for sustainable electric cars.
Foundation to introduce charging points fast
Story from De Pers, seen on 24 April 2009:
Charging points for electric cars
The network managers of the electricity networks have set up a foundation with the objective of creating a network of charging points for electric cars all over the country from scratch, and doing it fast.
Ten of the eleven regional distributors have already committed, making coverage very nearly national, a spokesperson of network company Enexis, the driving force behind the initiative, confirmed Friday in de Volkskrant.
The intended launch of the foundation is slated for September, but a website where municipalities and other stakeholders can register their interest in participating is already online. The foundation is intended to solve the 'chicken-and-the-egg' problem facing the introduction of the electric car: manufacturers believe that electric cars won't sell because there are no charging points, and there is no momentum on building charging points because no one is driving electric cars.
