EU graciously lets Dutch splurge €33m on 'leccy car charger network

The Netherlands is to fork out nearly €33m in public funds for electric car chargers after the European Commission gave its permission for the plan to go ahead on Monday.

EU Competition Commish Margrethe Vestager said that the plans were within EU state aid rules and would not unduly distort competition, adding that “electric cars can provide real benefits to society by reducing CO² emissions, pollution and noise.”

The news will be welcome to Tesla owners who have complained of long queues at supercharger stations. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave his two cents on the problem, telling shareholders in June that the problem was not a shortage of supercharger stations; rather, according to His Muskiness, drivers using the stations for day-to-day journeys instead of their home chargers.

It’s hard to blame them. The supercharger stations charge the car 10 times faster than the home kits. Some of those juicing up are also the 160+ Tesla taxis operating out of Amsterdam airport.

Dutch local authorities will decide on a one-by-one basis which type of charging post infrastructure best suits their local community. The scheme also requires local authorities to draw in private investment to be eligible for the state support.

The scheme will last for three years but will be reviewed yearly to make sure that the real costs of operating and installing the charging posts are reflected in the aid granted. The operators will be selected through competitive tenders. ®