The number of fully electric cars on the Dutch roads doubled last year to 45,000 but there was a 3% drop in the number of hybrids, Dutch car registration agency RDW said on Friday.

Some 77% of the electric and hybrid vehicles in use in the Netherlands are company cars, the RDW said.

Earlier this year, the government’s system for subsidising the sale of electric cars came under fire when it emerged that around half the fund to stimulate people to drive electric cars has ended up in the hands of ‘rich Tesla and Jaguar drivers’.

Last year, the government said it would fund tax breaks totaling €700m for electric car drivers. But almost half the 25,000 electric cars bought in the Netherlands in 2018 were Teslas and Jaguars with a price tag of €80,000 to €120,000, the Volkskrant said.

Despite the growth in numbers, fully electric cars only account for 1.6% of the Dutch fleet of 8.8 million. The Tesla S is the most common electric car in the Netherlands – there are some 12,000 on the Dutch roads.

The European car manufacturers association ACEA says the number of electric cars sold in the first three months of this year is up 40% on 2018.

Earlier this month, Amsterdam announced plans to ban all but fully electric cars from 2030.

The national statistics agency CBS said at the end of last year that 75% of Tesla drivers in the Netherlands had been given a ticket for speeding.

Note: The headline of this article was amended on Friday afternoon to remove the reference to sales