Despite the government, provinces and local councils announcing a €30m investment in a comprehensive network of electric car charging points, car buyers are still wary, Trouw reports.

An estimated 1.7 million electric charging points will be needed to keep a projected 1.9 million electric vehicles moving by 2030. This is the target in order to meet limits for traffic pollution set out in the country’s climate accord.

The new €30m will go towards choosing locations and preparing them for large-scale charging, including of electric buses and taxis. However, Trouw claimed, no agreement has been reached yet on locations and who will carry out the installation.

‘Not everyone has room for a charging point in front of their homes,’ a traffic ministry spokesman told the paper.

The government and provincial authorities reportedly do not want the job of installing the charging points to fall completely to network operators but prefer tenders from companies which would install them quickly and in bulk. Local authorities are also considering measures such as ‘smart charging squares’ in carparks or supermarkets, according to the paper.

But Trouw reports that ‘charging fear’ is proving to be a brake on the government’s ambitions, with people reluctant to purchase an electric car because they fear they will be stranded without a charging point in sight.

A projected new subsidy for the purchase of second hand electric cars could make electric driving more attractive to a broader public outside the ‘bubble’ of the very wealthy, the paper said.