Driving Electric Vehicles Set To Become A More Widespread Practical Option In Netherlands

Lots of reasons exist for why more people still haven’t made the switch to electric vehicles, and most of them have to do with cost and convenience.

Photo courtesy of The Holland Sentinel .

Even for those willing to pay the higher cost for an electric vehicle, there has always been the issue of recharging infrastructure. Owners could recharge their vehicles at home, but then they could only go for short distances for fear of running out of power.

Over the last couple a years, a number of companies have been developing public infrastructures by creating networks of electric vehicle charging stations.

Some of the most notable have been Better Place partnering with government of Ontario, Canada in an effort to develop an electric car infrastructure in the province, and the company signing an agreement with Jerusalem to develop a charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the city.

In the United States, General Motors has partnered with a number of utilities to install over 500 Pacific Coast charging stations for public use.

Now also getting into the building game is a new electric vehicles infrastructure provider called The New Motion. It’s a fledgling company that’s only been around since 2009, but it’s already making its mark in the Netherlands.

Earlier this month, The New Motion opened its first “fast charging station” for electric vehicle at the Van der Valk Hotel Vianen (Netherlands). The station is the first of what is set to be a national network of 30 stations, with the target of having them all in place by the end of 2012.

The New Motion says that these fast charge stations will be able to recharge a vehicle “in less than 30 minutes.” This national network will be built in cooperation with partners including municipalities, operators, energy suppliers, roadside restaurants, petrol stations, car dealers and automakers.

The company most recently partnered with Nissan Netherlands, saying this week that it would provide Nissan LEAF owners in the country with a home recharging systems. These home points would allow a vehicle to fully recharge at rate of 16 amps in about hours.

The New Motion says that these home recharging systems will operate on their own circuits, and allow all of the other home appliances to continue running unaffected.

Related GreenVitals Articles

• Better Place Partners With Ontario Government to Develop Electric Car Infrastructure in the Province
• Jerusalem Signs Agreement to Expand Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles

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