If you think BMW being the top selling car brand in Singapore is an oddity, this is even stranger. The number 1 selling car in Norway for the month of September 2013 is an electric car. And it’s not a small car like a Peugeot iOn (rebadged i-MIEV) or a Nissan Leaf – Norway’s best selling car in September is the Tesla Model S!
The Model S displaced the Volkswagen Golf to the number 2 spot at 616 units versus 561 units. The Golf has been Norway’s best selling car, but of course it remains the top seller year to date at 5,593 units and has been for the past few years.
Granted, the Model S sales performance is most likely due to the fact that two years worth of orders are being delivered now, but then again Norway has always had a penchant for electric cars, with the Leaf coming in at second place for the month of April this year.
Norway is a world leader in electric car sales per capita, thanks to government support in terms of tax breaks and usage benefits. Electric car drivers get zero VAT, electric car only car parks, and get usage of bus lanes. As many as 200 charging points are installed in Oslo every year.
To put things into perspective, according to an Automotive News Europe report, a Model S is priced from US$110,000 in Norway, where a typical combustion engine car with the equivalent size and performance would cost up to US$330,000. A BMW 5-Series priced around the Model S has a weaker basic engine. Demand for the Model S is so high that owners are able to sell their cars on the second hand market for premiums of as much as US$20,000.
The Tesla Model S is a 100% electric four door car powered by an electric motor. It’s wheelbase of 2,959mm puts it in the BMW 5-Series/Mercedes-Benz E-Class segment. Its electric motor produces 416hp and 600Nm of torque, sending all that power to the rear wheels through a single speed fixed gear transmission.
The 85kWh version of the 2,108kg premium EV can go up to 500km on the NEDC cycle, while the 60kWh version can travel 375km. The 416hp motor takes it from 0 to 100km/h takes just 4.2 seconds. It’s a 5 seater, but can take an additional 2 kids thanks to a rear-facing third row of two seats in the ‘boot’.
The post Tesla Model S tops Norway’s charts for September appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
via Paul Tan's Automotive News http://paultan.org/2013/10/14/tesla-model-s-norways-top-selling-car-september/
No comments:
Post a Comment