Two months in a row electric cars topped the ranking of sales in Norway

Electric cars in the parking lot with a recharge in Oslo

In September and October of this year, Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf, respectively, became the leaders of car sales in Norway. If Tesla electric car, which appeared on the Norwegian market in August, took the lead rather due to the fulfillment of pre-orders (in October, sales fell several times), then Nissan Leaf shows consistently high results. In 2013, Leaf ranked fourth in sales, with a share of 3.2%. In total, 925 electric vehicles were sold in Norway in October, which is 7.2% of the total number, which is more than twice as high as last year.


Sales of electric vehicles in Europe

Norway is the world leader in sales of electric vehicles per capita. In Norway, with a population of 5 million people, only half as many electric vehicles are sold than in France’s 65 million people. There are large-scale government support programs for electric vehicle owners. In addition to direct tax breaks, free use of toll roads and ferries, a network of free gas stations, electric cars are allowed to use lanes for public transport, special free parking with recharging is available for them. Norway prefers to export its impressive hydrocarbon reserves, rather than burn them domestically. 99% of all electricity produced here is generated by hydroelectric power.
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Although the popularity of electric cars in Norway can be explained by significant benefits, it's not just them. No benefits could force to buy cars that can not normally drive. Norway is a rather long country with difficult terrain. Despite the warm ocean currents, the climate here is quite severe - in the north of the country the average January temperature is minus seventeen degrees Celsius. The boom of electric cars here suggests that they are almost as good as petrol in performance, and in some ways superior to them.