Sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids have broken records in Denmark.
They exceeded those of petrol and diesel cars last month, according to the Danish Car Importers Association (DBI).
There were 10,274 electric or plug-in hybrids sold in December, representing 57.8 per cent of total car sales in the country.
That is a record both in absolute and relative terms, said the association.
“The green cars delivered a distinguished final sprint in December in a year where sales of green cars have gone far better than most had dared to hope for,” said Mads Rørvig, CEO of DBI.
“Electric car sales have increased by 75 per cent compared to 2020, while plug-in hybrids have grown by over 120 per cent.
“However, we expect that the proportion of plug-in hybrids will fall in 2022, as the tax on these particular ones increased.
“Unfortunately, the corona pandemic led to a global shortage of components, which has put a general damper on car production and caused extended delivery times for new cars for Danish car buyers.
“There is no doubt that car sales would have been higher if we had had it easier to get cars home.”
The record-breaking sales have highlighted a problem, however: a lack of charging stations.
“The establishment of new charging stations has gradually picked up pace but can still not keep up with the development in sold electric cars,” added Rørvig.
“At Christmas, we again saw that the proliferation of rechargeable cars is well ahead of the rollout of the charging network.
“On the busiest travel days, electric drivers had to wait in long queues at the popular charging stations – it is not sustainable, and it deters many consumers from choosing an electric car.”
