Cars on Dutch roads have become considerably bigger and heavier over the past 10 years, according to new calculations by national statistics agency CBS.

Much of the increase in weight is due to the rise in electric car numbers, which have heavy batteries, but the cars themselves are also becoming longer and wider, CBS said.

The average car on Dutch roads today weighs 1,352 kilos, up around 8% compared with 10 years ago. However, the CBS said that cars built in 2016 weighed an average of 1,224 kilos, and that figure has now risen by 27% to 1,554 kilos.

The newest electric cars now weigh an average of 1,875 kilos, which is 658 kilos more than new petrol-driven vehicles.

New cars are also an average of 21 centimetres longer and six centimetres wider, CBS said.

Road tax in the Netherlands is currently largely determined by weight, but the government said last week it is considering making size the main determinant in the future, so that electric car users are not disadvantaged by higher taxes.

Amsterdam’s traffic chief Melanie van der Horst said that people are buying bigger cars because they feel unsafe in traffic but that this, in turn, is making the roads less safe for other people.

Traffic accidents are 20% more likely to be fatal if the colission involves a big car, she told the Parool on Monday. “In addition, these sort of cars take up more space at a time when we are looking for more space for children, greenery and traffic safety measures.”

Van der Horst said earlier she is looking at the option of increasing parking fees for large cars.