Boosted by first deliveries of the new-generation, in February the Nissan Leaf was the most registered electric car in Norway. While there were some units of the out-going model registered, the new-generation contributed the most for this month Nissan Leaf registrations.
Norway is the country that sets the example for electric car adoption around the world. For this reason is always important to see how this market develops.
Let’s see the registration figures for February.
Top 6 in February
Nissan Leaf
First deliveries of the new-generation started in February and boosted Nissan Leaf registration figures in Norway. Not surprisingly, it seems that most of the current European Nissan Leaf production goes straight to Norway.
Volkswagen e-Golf
This is an electric car that Norwegians love and it’s not unusual to see it as the best selling car in Norway (electric or not). However, with the arrival of new electric cars, Volkswagen risks losing its bragging rights…
Since the ID hatchback won’t arrive before late 2019 or early 2020, Volkswagen should consider upgrading the current battery to 48 kWh this year. This would be possible with the 50 Ah PHEV2 battery cells that Samsung SDI will start producing this year in its Hungarian plant. Currently Volkswagen e-Golf battery has 37 Ah PHEV2 cells.
BMW i3
Considering that it’s not a secret that this electric car will get a battery upgrade to 42,62 kWh later this year, current sales aren’t as bad as they could be.
Kia Soul EV
This is an electric car that you either love it or hate it. Its boxy shape is great for interior space, but sucks for aerodynamics and efficiency. With a new generation coming later this year, it’ll get more range and possibly CHAdeMO replaced in favor of CCS.
Hyundai IONIQ Electric
Since this electric car is constrained by production, not by demand, doesn’t make sense to compare its registration numbers with others.
Renault Zoe
Renault’s electric supermini had a great start in January, but in February registrations dropped really hard. The announcement of a new R110 version coming this summer surely didn’t help sales.
Summing up, Norwegians are so eager to buy electric cars that it won’t be the best nor the most affordable electric car to sell the most units. Instead, the best selling electric car in Norway will definitely be the one which isn’t production constrained and hasn’t huge waiting times. The 2018 Nissan Leaf is poised to dominate this year’s sales. Nonetheless, in 2019 the Tesla Model 3 should take over.
