Changes in the Netherlandsโ EV incentives have resulted in an important boost in electric vehicle sales and Tesla rode the wave with a doubling of its sales in the important market in 2018.
Tesla calls the Netherlands home since itโs where it established its European headquarters (pictured above) and built its first final assembly factory in Europe.
We reported on sales surging in the market earlier this year and that has continued throughout the third and fourth quarter.
The road authorities have now released the registration data for the full year and confirmed that Tesla delivered a record 2,214 vehicles in December for a total of 8,604 vehicles in 2018.
Thatโs up fromย 3,288 vehicles during the previous year, according to the same registration data.
In 2018,ย there were even a few Model 3 vehicles in the mix even though the vehicle is officially being introduced in the country next month:
- Model S:ย 5,633 units
- Model X:ย 2,966 units
- Model 3: 5 units
4 out of the 5 Model 3โs were registered over the last month.
We knew of a few U.S. Model 3 vehicles being imported by individuals in Europe, but Tesla has also more recently brought several Model 3s to Europe, especially to test CCS charging.
But itโs a significantย increase in Model S and Model X deliveries that have resulted in the overallย doubling of sales.
As we previouslyย reported, the surge can partly be explained by aย significant tax break on theย Benefit-in-kindย (orย BIK) ending for vehicles that cost more than โฌ50,000, which is the case for Model S and Model X.
The BIK tax break was reportedly worth up to โฌ19,000 for corporate electric vehicle owners over five years.
The government incentive reduced the tax to 4%, but it will go up to 22% for any amount overย โฌ50,000 starting next year.
It made the Model S and Model X very popular with corporate fleets.
The Jaguar I-Pace also fits in the category and it saw a surge in deliveries during the last month of the year as well.
The Britishย automaker deliveredย 2,621 electric SUVs in the market last month โ bringing the total year to date to 3,495 units.
Hereโs the full registration data:
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Electrekโs Take
Great boost for Tesla and EVs in general in the Netherlands, but now sales are expected to crash after many people rushed to buy cars in Q4.
Itโs weird considering the Netherlands also aims to only allow EVs for new car sales starting in 2030, but they are reportedly only planning to incentivize the sales again in 2021 with a 6,000 Euros incentive per EV.
That discount is planned to be gradually phased out as they get closer to 2030.
Personally, I think EV incentives are going to be much less important in 2021 onwards and they should instead be availableย now in order toย keep the momentumย going.
By 2021, I believe we are going to have many more EV options at a lower price thanks to economies of scale and battery costs decreasing. EVs should become much more competitive even without incentives or the true cost of gas-powered cars including their impact on the environment in their price.
