Netherlands EV purchases by income 2025: rich vs poor car buyers

© A. Krivonosov

75,000 versus roughly 6,000 cars — that’s the gap between the richest and poorest income deciles in the Netherlands when it comes to buying electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The difference works out to about 12.5 times. Of the roughly 259,000 EV and PHEV deals in 2025, the top 20% of households accounted for almost half. The wealthiest 10% alone made up more than a quarter of the market. That’s according to Dutch broadcaster NOS.

At the other end of the market, the picture flips. Two-thirds of the cars bought by the bottom 20% of earners were more than ten years old, and diesel’s share was highest among lower-income buyers. In total, more than 1.7 million cars changed hands in the Netherlands in 2025, but only around 148,000 of them were new — less than 9%. Nearly 1.4 million of the deals involved petrol cars.

This isn’t the first sign that electrification tracks income. Back in a 2021 CBS study of the national fleet, 62.7% of privately owned plug-in cars belonged to the top income quartile, versus just 5.4% for the bottom quartile. The two datasets aren’t directly comparable — one measured the existing fleet, the other measures 2025 purchases and ownership transfers — but the tilt toward wealthier households holds up.

The gap stands out even more against the backdrop of a fast-growing European EV market: EV sales across Europe grew 31% year-on-year in summer 2026. At the same time, the used market is becoming more important, with a growing number of second-hand EVs now noticeably cheaper than new equivalents.

Dutch authorities are trying to push electrification further down the income scale. Starting in the fourth quarter of 2026, low- and middle-income households will be able to scrap an old petrol or diesel car and get support toward buying a used fully electric one. The government has officially confirmed it is preparing the programme.

The scheme has a budget of around €52 million. The funding is spread across 2026–2028, and the old car being scrapped must fall into emissions classes 1–4.

So the Dutch problem is no longer a lack of electric cars as such: at the start of 2026, electric and hybrid vehicles made up 21.5% of the country’s entire passenger car fleet. The barrier has shifted to affordability — especially for people buying not a new car, but one that’s ten years old or more.