MNN - Mother Nature Network

“2011 was to have been the Year of the Electric car in Europe, but sales were so slow as to be barely measurable. The combination of severe economic downturn and less than compelling prices and performance means that you can discount a sales surge in 2012.

 

European newsletter Automotive Industry Data (AID) said that despite meaty government subsidies, electric cars managed a market share of 0.09 per cent in Western Europe last year, with France leading the way with 2,630, Germany a close second with 2,154 and socialist Norway third with 2,038. Britain managed four-figure sales with just over 1,000, while Greece in last place failed to trouble the scorers with zero.”

Monteiro says that electric vehicles are still too expensive, and the government could have done a better job explaining the advantages of the technology. In Denmark, the tax structure so favors electric cars that a Danish EV owner would save 3,380 euros over the life of the car. Electric cars are exempted from ownership tax, vehicle excise duty, countervailing charges and road taxes — enough to cut the price by 60 percent. Denmark also has Better Place, which is fielding a fleet of Fluence Z.E. cars with battery swapping. All that’s true, but the copious subsidies haven’t led to big take-up there, even though 40 percent in polls say they’re interested in buying an EV.

Mitsuhiko Yamashita, a Nissan vice president, has some statistics for the electric Leaf. It’s sold 11,000 in the U.S., 13,000 in Japan and just 3,000 in Europe, a fact Yamashita attributed to a late start selling there. But Yamashita said sales are going great in Norway, a country with an EV tradition through native company Think Global.