Outside the Randstad in the Netherlands, it can sometimes be quite a search for charging stations
If you drive an electric car, you better live in the Randstad. The coverage of public charging stations is excellent. From Amsterdam to Rotterdam, you never have to look far to connect your EV to a charging station. As good as the coverage is in the busiest part of the Netherlands, the coverage is just as bad in some areas outside of that.
The Netherlands is bigger than the Randstad (really) and companies seem to forget that sometimes. The focus is so much on the west of the country that the east, north and south are lagging behind. At least when it comes to the coverage of charging stations. A meagre supply like years ago is no longer the case, but there is still work to be done. This is the conclusion of Nu.nl based on an analysis.
In the largest cities in the Netherlands, you now have one charging station per 100 residents. You get a completely different picture if you zoom out further. Dantumadiel in Friesland, for example, has only 17 charging stations per 19,000 residents. That will be a lively affair if the residents of this place switch en masse to EVs. A local alderman points out that many houses in Dantumadiel have their own driveway, which means that a public charging station in the street is less often needed.
The National Charging Infrastructure Agenda is a government body that works together on a nationwide charging network. Also in areas outside the Randstad. In residential areas, public chargers must be accessible within walking distance. Often well organized in the west of the country, in the east, north and south this is not yet the case.
The Netherlands now has more than 160,000 (semi-)public charging stations, in 2023 more than 60 public charging stations were installed per day. Eventually, this unfair distribution will disappear. My expectation is that you will always have better coverage in the Randstad than elsewhere in the country. They should do it.
