Nissan Leaf is top 10 best seller… in Norway

The Nissan Leaf has clocked up 1000 sales just six months after launch in Norway – a rate of registrations that has seen it ranked as 9th best seller overall in February.

Nissan Leaf first drive

Nissan Leaf fuelled by whisky

Nissan Leaf – cars that go as fast backwards as forwards

The Leaf has taken almost 2 per cent of all new car sales in the Nordic country – and Nissan says its top 10 best seller status is because of the high level of government support for the fledgling electric car.

This includes zero VAT on the purchase price, free road car tax, free parking, the ability to use bus lanes and even exemption from some road tolls.

Add in 3500 public charging points – of which many are free to use – and the case for the Nissan Leaf is clear.

‘The Norwegian package of incentives is unsurpassed and the recharging infrastructure is established and accessible”, said Olivier Paturet, general manager of zero emission strategy at Nissan Europe.

“We are very happy to see that the ambition of the Norwegian government has matched our own with strong support for the widespread introduction of electric vehicles.

“We can see that Norway is leading the way with its proactive approach to encouraging its citizens to drive electric vehicles and we hope that will continue.”

Electric car sales in the UK are taking longer to grow, despite incentives including free parking and the government’s £5000 Plug-in Car grant.

Last year, 1082 electric cars were sold in the UK – similar numbers to Norway, despite the UK boasting a population of over 60 million instead of less than 5 million, and the sales being measured over a period twice as long.

Even so, this was still a 684 per cent increase on sales of EVs in Britain back in 2010…