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Just a few years ago, electric cars were a dream item for most people and the cost for only 1-kilowatt-hour was huge. But the increasing interest by the governments of various countries brought the augmented focus on electric vehicles (EVs).

In 2018, the number of electric car sales around the world touched a record, with over 2 million battery-electric cars (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids electric vehicles (PHEVs) sold. In the United Kingdom alone, a 22% increase in sales was registered compare to that previous year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders data showed.

While demand and interest in EVs increase, more and more manufacturers are rolling out to produce and sell electric cars. Although electric vehicles are still relatively new to the road, most car companies currently produce only one EV model.

Let’s look at which country is encouraging and taking solemn leaps towards EVs.

Norway

For the years ago, Norway has given the highest priority towards EVs and in 2018, the country made a significant market share of 49.10% worldwide. That’s progress by almost 10% from the year before. In the year 2017, the overall brand-new electric car sales by countries, Norway comes in third place, following China and the USA.

This rate of growth is largely being done by government regulations and policies. The Norway government heavily taxes fossil fuels, so more people are switching to EV’s. Even, the government in the country set a challenging target for all new cars sold to be zero-emission by 2025 and wants to transition to 100% EVs throughout the projected timeframe.

Iceland

Defined by its dramatic landscape with volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields, Iceland has shocked the world with making a significant stride in the EV industry, with 19% market share. In 2017, Iceland had 2,990 plug-in vehicles registered that was up 157% from that previous year. Tax incentives, avoiding to purchase gas and diesel cars, and regulations implemented by the government lead the country people towards the EVs journey.

China

With over 1.5 billion people, the highest in the world, China is home to large techies. But the country, in terms of EVs market share, is behind Sweden (8.20%), Netherlands (6.50%), Andorra (5.60%), and Portugal (5.60%). The country managed to reach 4.20% market share in 2018, up from 2.2% in 2017. Over 700,000 BEVs and PHEVs were sold in China during 2017, of which 579,000 were private passenger vehicles. Despite this market share, China has 99% of the world's 250 million electric two-wheelers.

In the last decade, the Chinese government has invested around US$60 billion, largely focused on EVs. Currently, the country is the leading car manufacturing hub in the world.

USA

With nearly 200,000 units sold in 2017, the USA positioned second for electric cars sales by any country. Recently, the country has made an impressive jump towards EVs. As of 2018, USA has 2.10% market share, behind China (4.20%), Austria (2.60%), Switzerland (2.55%), UK (2.53%), and Canada and France (2.16% and 2.11%, respectively).

India

India is a big market for all countries, as the nation has massive consumers. But in terms of EVs adoption, the country is far behind from other developing nations. Though, recently concluded Union Budget 2019 took the promise to increase the sell of EVs in the country, as the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman shed the light in her speech during the budget presentation to promote electric mobility in the country.

To do so, the government will provide additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakhs on the interest paid on the loans taken to buy EVs to make electric vehicles affordable for the consumers.

On government’s decision to lower the GST rates on EV’s and charging stations, President & CEO, Panasonic India & South Asia, Manish Sharma says, “Lack of a proper infrastructure has been a major impediment in ensuring wide scale adoption of EV’s in India. The emphasis laid by the government to improve the electric mobility ecosystem in the country has seen yet another push with its decision to lower the GST rates from 12% to 5% on electric vehicles and 18% and 5% on the charging stations. This will not only provide the necessary impetus to EV adoption but also facilitate in strengthening the EV charging infrastructure in the country. The decision to exempt GST in the hiring of electric buses of carrying capacity of more than 12 passengers by the local authorities will give the necessary thrust in raising more awareness about EV’s. The landmark announcements will also help lay the foundation in creating a manufacturing ecosystem for the EV sector in India.”