Export More Than Doubled
Many more used electric cars are being exported than last year. This and more is evident from new figures from Bovag and RDC. The Tesla Model 3 tops the list of most exported EVs.
In the past six months, no less than 63,877 new electric cars have been registered in the Netherlands, but many used ones have also disappeared across the border. Bovag and RDC calculate that in the first six months of 2025, no less than 19,655 second-hand EVs were exported. That is more than double compared to last year, when it was still 9,074 units in the same period.
One electric model tops the export list by a wide margin, and that is the Tesla Model 3. This year, 5,915 used Model 3s have already been stripped of their Dutch plates to start another round elsewhere. The electric Kia Niro follows with 1,428 units, with fellow group member Hyundai Kona close behind (1,169). Just over 1,000 Audi E-trons were also exported (1,017).
Total exports also increased, from 135,038 cars in H1 of 2024 to 158,119 this year. EVs accounted for 12.4 percent of the share, compared to 6.7 percent last year. Most of the exported used cars still had only a gasoline engine (75,576) or a diesel engine (50,376). 10,225 used hybrid cars were exported.
Gerard Ten Buuren, chairman of Bovag Independent Car Companies, attributes the significant EV export to uncertainty created by The Hague: “As long as the policy remains uncertain, many consumers postpone their purchase. Clear, long-term agreements on car taxes are needed to give confidence in second-hand electric driving.”
Import
Slightly fewer used cars have been imported so far this year than exported. 158,119 went out and 153,808 came in (+6.8 percent). For imports, it was mainly gasoline cars (69,518) and hybrid cars (69,153), and even more diesels were imported (8,899) than EVs (5,637).