Electric car sales in Denmark are finally picking up after several years of ignominy thanks to better infrastructure and electric cars being exempt from the hefty registration tax. But soon the perks of driving green could go up in fumes.

As part of its national budget proposal for 2016, the government has decided to gradually bring back the registration tax for electric cars over the next four years and owners face paying the full registration tax by 2020.

The finance minister, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, has revealed that the government has decided to veto the previous government’s pledge that the registration tax would stay in place until the end of 2016.

The Finance Ministry and Tax Ministry have yet to unveil any details pertaining to the planned return of the registration tax, or a possible deduction involving batteries for electric cars.

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At a crossroad
But according to the Tax Ministry, a continuation of the registration tax exemption for electric cars would cost the state some 650 million kroner in 2016.

Elon Musk, the founder of the US electric car company Tesla, has blasted the government’s move.

“It’s a question of what signal the government wants to send: a signal of sustainable transportation or the opposite,” Musk told DR Nyheder.

“This is an important crossroads in history. When the tax exemption expires on January 1, it will really damage the potential for electric cars.”