Electric vs petrol: what does owning a car in the Netherlands really cost?

Nederlands

SEPP purchase subsidy (wound down): the Subsidie Elektrische Personenauto's Particulieren (SEPP — the national purchase subsidy for private buyers) gave private buyers up to €2,950 on a new and €2,000 on a used electric car. The budget is exhausted and there is no national purchase subsidy any more for new applications. Some provinces or municipalities still run a scheme of their own, but not every buyer qualifies — which is why we list this separately and do not count it in the totals above. Source: RVO / Rijksoverheid (national government), as of 1 July 2026. Check availability and budget yourself before you buy.

Bijtelling (company-car benefit tax, business drivers): if you drive a company car privately, a fully electric car gets a reduced bijtelling rate of 17% in 2026 on the first €30,000 of list price and 22% on the remainder; petrol and diesel cars pay 22% on the full value. This is not a cash subsidy but a lower tax on your salary, and it applies only to business drivers. The discount is phased out step by step from 2026. We show it separately and apply it only to the electric car — not to the petrol car. Source: Belastingdienst (Dutch tax authority), as of 1 July 2026.

Road tax (motorrijtuigenbelasting, mrb): electric cars get a quarter rate in 2026 — you pay just 25% of the mrb, despite the extra weight of the battery pack; from 2026 this discount is being phased out. It is not a cash subsidy but a tax you don't pay: a petrol car easily costs €600–1,000 a year in mrb — and the electric car saves part of exactly that difference. Plug-in hybrids pay a half rate. Basis: Belastingdienst / mrb rates, as of 1 July 2026.

Purchase tax bpm (for clarity): electric cars were exempt from bpm (the Dutch vehicle purchase tax) for years, but since 1 January 2025 EVs also pay bpm based on weight. The old full exemption no longer exists. If you still read that an EV is ‘bpm-free’: that is no longer true for new cars. We mention this here for clarity only and do not count any separate bpm discount in the totals.