from The Daily Standard (NL)

The Leftist governing class’s contempt for the hardworking entrepreneur truly knows no bounds anymore. While left-wing aldermen in cities like Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Rotterdam have themselves driven around in subsidized electric lease cars or with a private chauffeur, they are waging a ruthless war against the people who keep the physical economy running: the carpenter, the plumber, the market vendor, the baker, and the painter.

From 1 January 2027, an outright disaster will unfold for the Dutch small and medium-sized enterprise sector. In addition to the 226,000 older diesel vehicles already excluded by so-called ‘zero-emission zones,’ more than 240,000 Euro 5 vans will soon be declared fair game.

In total, over 465,000 perfectly functioning commercial vehicles will be banned from Dutch city centers in one fell swoop! Buses that are in top technical condition, are meticulously maintained, and for which the entrepreneur has toiled relentlessly for years to pay them off, are suddenly degraded to scrap by a lick of the pen by climate gurus.

Unaffordable electric buses and an overloaded power grid

Den Haag [The Hague] and municipal bureaucrats then declare with a straight face that the entrepreneur “just needs to switch to electric.” It demonstrates a shocking detachment from reality.

An electric delivery van easily costs between 50,000 and 80,000 euros excluding VAT. For a large listed multinational with a fleet of hundreds of vehicles, that is a tax depreciation. But for the independent plasterer or installer with one or two employees, this is a fatal blow. They simply do not have that money lying around.

And even if an entrepreneur gets deeply into debt to purchase such a battery bus, the real misery only just begins:

The range with a fully loaded cargo space and a trailer is abysmal in the winter. Fast charging on the go costs hours of valuable working time.

Due to the pressure of nitrogen and climate regulations, the Dutch power grid is completely gridlocked by congestion, meaning entrepreneurs on business parks cannot even get a higher-capacity charging connection!