Battery-powered car sales have skyrocketed in Western Europe and Scandinavia– the wealthier half of the continent. Sales have lagged in the south and eastern parts due to their poverty.

Amidst the pandemic, the diesel and gasoline vehicle market collapsed while electric car sales have increased. Surprisingly, the EV sales are not because the Coronavirus has turned consumers more eco-conscious but is due to the government’s arrangements to make electric cars more appealing.

The government’s Coronavirus rescue programs take place in countries such as Germany and France. The provisions to entice buyers is part of the countries’ schemes to back up EU’s Green Deal Project; the intentions are to aim to make the climate-neutral by 2050.

Nobody Gets Left Behind

A car industry executive notes:

“The south remains a problem. No buying power, high unemployment, no growth.”

Fortunately, the European Commission wants to ensure the poor aren’t left behind on clean mobility.

In order to bridge the EV gap, the car industry wants the Commission to aid in the success of the countries by offering national incentive programs.

According to an EU official and representative from the car industry, capitals submitting plans to access the 750 billion EU recovery fund could encourage those with low e-car shares to set up stimulus programs. This would overall benefit the car industry.

ACEA, a European car lobby, said that 26 out of 27 EU countries have incentives in place to encourage people to purchase e-cars.

Car Sales

Referring to ACEA, during the first half of 2020, car sales plummeted by 38%. The electric cars were responsible for 8% of those sales, which is twice the rate of last year’s sales.

The sales were heavily askew. 98% of EV sales in Europe in the first three months of the year were from the richer EU countries. Norway and the U.K. are included here.

Looking at the E-market figures from the International Council on Clean Transportation in June, Sweden accompanies 26% of EV sales. France and Germany share 9%, while Italy and Spain share 3%. Poland only has 1% of electric vehicle sales.

Norway– A Role Model

Norway, one of the world’s wealthiest countries, is without a doubt a leader in being environmentally aware. What is now bizarre is that Norway’s wealth is from oil and gas revenues.

Peter Mock, a researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation stated:

“Norway is a quite special case, for example, due to the fact that taxes on vehicle purchase and ownership are significantly higher than in most other countries and that the country was willing to accept a shortfall in revenues when introducing a tax break for electric vehicles.”

Sveinung Rotevatn, Norway’s environmental and climate minister exclaimed:

If Norway can do it then anyone can do it, especially, mild, heavily populated countries like Belgium and the Netherlands.

Rotevatn continues to talk about how reductions should be offered to assist in resolving the issue to help e-car sales.

What is Renault Zoe doing to help?

According to Bridie Schmidt’s article in The Driven, some European countries have made leases for electric vehicles the price equivalent to a monthly phone bill.

Renault Zoe’s incentive makes the vehicles almost FREE.