A €10m subsidy for new electric vehicles has all been claimed within eight days, reports the NOS.

Any new requests to the RVO driving authority will now have to wait until next year, although the budget is not yet known.

People were able to request a €4,000 subsidy to buy a new electric car.

However, there is still money available for second hand electric vehicles as so far €1.4m of the €7.2 million pot has been claimed – a total of €2,000 per car. Both leased and bought cars qualify for the subsidy, which is intended to make electric cars more affordable and help the Netherlands reach its climate protection goals.

On Wednesday the government and local authorities announced they would spend a total of €30m to create a comprehensive national network of charging points to promite a wider use of electric cars.