Electric driving: these measures coming your way

  • The basis
  • Edited 22 January 2026
  • 2 min
  • Managing and growing
  • Sustainability

More and more people are switching to electric vehicles, including for business purposes. The government is taking measures to reduce CO2 emissions, and more and more cities are establishing environmental zones and zero-emission zones. Read what these measures mean for your business and how you can adapt to a future in which electric driving becomes the norm.

The Netherlands must be climate neutral (in Dutch) by 2050. This has implications for transport. Petrol and diesel cars will slowly but surely disappear from the streets and electric driving will become the standard. You may be affected by a number of important measures:

Zero-emission zones

From 2025, municipalities have been allowed to introduce zero-emission zones. Only vans and trucks running without diesel or petrol are allowed in these areas. To ensure you have time to prepare, there is a transitional arrangement. Thanks to that arrangement, some existing vans running on diesel, petrol or LPG are allowed to enter zero-emission zones for a little longer.

The access rules differ for vans and lorries. All new vans registered since 1 January 2025 must be emission-free.

Environmental zones for diesel vehicles

15 Dutch municipalities (in Dutch) have environmental zones for diesel trucks. The cities of Amsterdam, Arnhem, Utrecht, and The Hague have environmental zones for diesel-powered passenger cars and vans. The environmental zones are mainly in inner cities. You are not allowed to go there with your diesel vehicle. You can recognise an environmental zone by a traffic sign with a sign underneath. This indicates which vehicle and emission level the environmental zone applies to.

Prepare for environmental zones

Do you visit cities with an environmental zone or that will introduce an environmental zone in the future? Check your emission level and check whether you can enter the city with your car or van. There are 3 types of environmental zones for diesel cars, vans, and trucks: yellow, green, and purple.

Since 2025, your car or van must have at least emission class 4 to drive in an environmental zone. There are also stricter zones, for which you must have emission class 5 or 6. The traffic signs for environmental zones (in Dutch) will be renewed in 2026.

Ban on sale of petrol cars

All new cars must be emission-free from 2030, according to the government. From 2035, it will be almost impossible to buy new petrol or diesel cars in the rest of Europe either. Car manufacturers in the EU must reduce the total exhaust emissions of the cars they produce by 90% in 2035 compared to 2021. With this measure, the European Union wants to be climate neutral by 2050. You can still buy or sell fuel cars second-hand. From 2050, no petrol and diesel cars will be allowed on the road at all. Everyone will have to drive electric.

How to prepare

Take this measure into account when buying a new car. Do you want to be able to drive it for at least 10 years? Then look into electric driving. There is a good chance that second-hand fuel cars will decrease in value in the coming years due to the upcoming ban. In addition, since 2025, you have to pay BPM (in Dutch) for a fuel-powered delivery van. You do not pay BPM for delivery vans without CO2 emissions.

Introduction of heavy goods vehicle charge

A heavy goods vehicle charge will come into force in the Netherlands from 1 July 2026 to encourage clean transport. Trucks that weigh over 3,500 kilograms, will then pay an average of 20 euro cents per kilometre for every kilometre you drive by truck on motorways and some main provincial and municipal roads (N roads).

How to prepare

The heavier and more polluting the truck, the more truck charge you pay. Electric trucks pay the least. They are exempt up to a maximum weight of 4.250 kilos. Keep this in mind when investing in new trucks in the coming years.

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