Amsterdam – the perfect electric car city

I was lucky enough to go with my family to Amsterdam over the Easter holidays to visit a friend. One thing which was noticeable as soon as we arrived in Amsterdam Centraal station was the amount of bikes – they were everywhere – in fact there were double decker bike racks which apparently aren’t very large compared to some of the underground bike sheds that there are! We had never seen so many bikes…

The next thing I noticed was the amount of roads we had to cross to get anywhere – there were bikes, cars, buses etc, plus lots of tiny cars which were in the bike lanes. Some of these are electric, some aren’t but they are so small that they’re not very wide and can use the bike lanes to avoid the traffic.

Not that traffic seems an issue in Amsterdam – it’s much easier to bike or get around on foot as there are so many canals and not much parking.

It didn’t take long to spot lots of electric vehicle charging points – they are pretty much on every road and nearly every one had an electric car plugged in.

We spotted lots of BMW i3s which we will be lucky enough to be driving in summer. In fact I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in England yet!

Amsterdam’s electric vehicles even extend to their boats – we hired one to sail the canals and it was so quiet – which is a plus when there are so many boats on the canal at once.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if England was so electric car friendly? I came across this great little video which sums up all my concerns with buying an electric car – I know I’m not alone – but I also know that change is on the way.h

We just bought a small, second car – a second-hand Ford Focus. We are hoping that this will be the last petrol or diesel car we will buy and our next one will be electric. I, for one, am excited at this prospect!

Here is some more info on how Amsterdam is electric-transport-friendly  https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/living/latest-news/amsterdam-continues-to-lead-charge-for-electric-transport