In Amsterdam, authorities believe electric cars could be the solution. The city is the home of the Amsterdam Electric initiative, which seeks to encourage the uptake of electric cars amongst its residents.
By 2020, the city has high hopes that it will have 40,000 electric vehicles on its roads. If all goes to plan, by 2040 that figure could reach 200,000.
An extensive charging infrastructure, an electric car sharing scheme with ‘on demand’ car hire company car2go, and preferential treatment when it comes to waiting lists for sought after parking spaces are all being used to drive the uptake of electric vehicles.
“At first it was several cars, now we have… almost 10,000 unique users in Amsterdam making use of the charging infrastructure, but it’s still the beginning of the… transition to cleaner and smarter mobility in the city,” Bart Vertelman, Project Manager for Electric Mobility in Amsterdam, told CNBC in a recent report.
Amsterdam is just one of several major cities embracing green transport.
Europe’s largest city, London, hydrogen fuel buses, electric hybrid buses and over 1,000 electric charging points highlight a commitment to going green.
It is hoped that by 2025 greenhouse gas emissions in London will be cut by 60 percent when compared to the levels in 1990.
