Daily guide · NL · 2026-07-17
Charging an EV in Netherlands this week: what the prices actually said
All numbers computed from the week's published auction results at publication and frozen — this article is an honest snapshot, not a page that rewrites itself. Reproduce via the API.
The clearest signal this week was the midday dip. The cheapest charging window opened around noon or 13:00 on every day, averaging 25,25 EUR/MWh, while the evening peak averaged 149,64 EUR/MWh. That is a gap of 83 percent between the two, and it held consistently across all seven days.
Two days stood out at the low end. On 11 July the midday window averaged -1,56 EUR/MWh and on 12 July it fell to -19,84 EUR/MWh, meaning prices turned negative during the cheapest hours. The weekend closed differently: 16 July had the most expensive window at 93,61 EUR/MWh and the highest evening peak at 195,70 EUR/MWh, so the usual midday advantage narrowed sharply on that day.
The takeaway is straightforward. Shifting a typical 150 kWh of weekly charging from the evening peak into the midday window is worth about 18,66 EUR this week, or roughly 970 EUR over a year. If your car sits at home or at work around noon, set the charge timer for the early afternoon rather than plugging in after dinner.
Every day at 13:00 CET, an auction sets electricity prices for every hour of tomorrow — separately, for each European bidding zone. Those prices routinely differ by a factor of two to three within a single day, because solar floods the middle of the day and demand peaks in the evening. If you charge an EV, that spread is money: the car doesn't care when it charges, only that it's full by morning. This is what the spread looked like in NL this week.
83%
cheaper to charge in the best 3h window than at the evening peak, on average this week
25.25 vs 149.64
€/MWh: best window vs 18–21h evening habit (week average)
≈€970
a year on the wholesale component, for 150 kWh/week of charging at this week's gap
Day by day: when the cheap window actually fell
| Day | Cheapest 3h window | Window avg €/MWh | Evening 18–21h | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-10 | 12:00–15:00 | 45.77 | 157.06 | −71% |
| 2026-07-11 | 13:00–16:00 | -1.56 | 137.84 | −101% |
| 2026-07-12 | 12:00–15:00 | -19.84 | 120.77 | −116% |
| 2026-07-13 | 12:00–15:00 | 22.45 | 147.49 | −85% |
| 2026-07-14 | 13:00–16:00 | 7.48 | 137.74 | −95% |
| 2026-07-15 | 13:00–16:00 | 28.82 | 150.87 | −81% |
| 2026-07-16 | 12:00–15:00 | 93.61 | 195.7 | −52% |
Local time. Notice the window MOVES — sometimes after midnight, sometimes midday when solar peaks. A fixed night tariff catches some of this; following the auction catches all of it.
Automate it in ten minutes
You don't need to read auction results at 13:00 every day — ask the API for the cheapest window and let your wallbox follow it. One call:
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"zone": "NL", "duration_minutes": 180}' \
https://voltcast.com/api/v1/optimize/cheapest-windowHome Assistant users: the Voltcast integration exposes the same window as a sensor you can automate against; evcc users get a ready-made tariff config. The Home plan (€9/mo) covers one zone of your choice with 7-day forecasts — the free tier lets you test everything on DE-LU first. And if you want to charge on a forecast of tomorrow before the auction even publishes, that's the P50 curve — scored publicly every day so you know exactly how much to trust it.
Method & citation. Prices are hourly means of published day-ahead auction results (native 15-minute periods averaged; ENTSO-E/SMARD, attributed). Wholesale-price component only — grid fees and taxes come on top and vary by supplier. Cite as "Voltcast Research, voltcast.com/guides/ev-charging-nl-2026-07-17".
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