Amsterdam Introduces Recharging Stations
The day is drawing near when Amsterdam's motorised traffic will be powered by electricity. Is there an electric car or scooter in your future?
Positive forecast for pilot programme
On 6 November, the municipality of Amsterdam opened nineteen recharging stations at various locations in the city. Anyone with an electric car, motorcycle, or scooter (no petrol hybrids) can park and recharge their batteries at these sites for free. The pilot programme is an initiative of the City of Amsterdam in collaboration with NUON, the energy utility. Amsterdam aims to have a network of 200 such recharging stations in the city by 2012.
As of yet, there aren't that many electrical vehicles on the streets of Amsterdam. But the Dutch research organisation TNO forecasts that will be rapidly changing. According to the TNO, there should be 10,000 electrically powered vehicles in Amsterdam by 2015, by 2020, 40,000, and by 2040, a whopping 200,000, at which point virtually all motorised traffic in the city should be emission-free.
Clean air
The new recharging stations are part of a campaign to improve the air quality in Amsterdam. Motorised traffic is one of the largest sources of urban air pollution. In particular, the many short urban trips by cars, vans, taxis, and scooters cause substantial emissions.
In addition to improving air quality, the municipality also sees the evolution towards electricity-based transportation as a significant economic impulse for the city. It would like to see Amsterdam become a centre for developing and deploying electric vehicle technologies.
More information
To use the new recharging stations, you'll need to obtain an oplaadpas (recharging card) from NUON (in Dutch)
For a map indicating the locations of the recharging stations, see: Amsterdam Elektrisch (in Dutch)
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