According to new figures from the traffic authority, Trafikstyrelsen, there are now 2,000 electric cars in Denmark – a sign, claims the e-car industry, that interest is on the rise.
But while the national electric car association, Dansk Elbil Alliance (DEA), called the figure a “milestone”, Danish e-car sales continue to lag far behind other nations such as Norway, where 3,000 e-cars were sold in March alone.
”Of course we look with envy at Norway where 3,000 electric cars were sold in March,” Lærke Flader, the head of branding for DEA, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
“It just underlines that the electric car industry is a real alternative when the right conditions are in place.”
In Norway, 1,493 Tesla Model S e-cars were sold in March, and every fifth sold car was an e-car. The second bestselling car was the VW Golf with 624 sales.
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Norwegian advantages
In Denmark the most sold e-car is the Citroën C-Zero with about 400 sales, while the Tesla Model S was sold 210 times.
“We are seeing increased interest from councils and businesses,” Flader said. “Now it’s beginning to move so we have high expectations that the electric car sales will shoot up in the coming years.”
Flader expects about 1,500 new e-cars to hit the Danish roads during 2014.
As opposed to Denmark, Norway has specifically made it more attractive to privately own an e-car by giving e-car owners a number of advantages over standard car owners.
These advantages include exemption from tax or VAT, free parking, use of the bus lane, free charging at public charge stations, exemption for paying road tolls and a 50 percent discount on company car tax.
