INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Head of Iceland's Electric Vehicle Association had persuaded Elon Musk to expand into Iceland
(AFP)
First, he persuaded Elon Musk to
Now, he's predicting an exponential rise in sales of electric cars in a country that gets its energy from volcanoes."The supply of electric
cars is not satisfying demand at the moment," Johann Olafsson, who heads Iceland's Electric Vehicle Association, said in an interview in
If it did catch up with demand, sales would probably "more than double each year for the next few years," he said.Olafsson says he was
"thrilled" to receive Musk's positive response to his request via Twitter for a Tesla service center to open in Iceland
"I hope it will happen before the release of the Model 3.Earlier this month, Musk tweeted to Olafsson:"Thanks for letting me know
Sorry for the delay." Buyers interested in electric vehicles (EVs) currently face waiting times of up to nine months, Olafsson said
According to data provided by ON Power Company, Iceland's biggest electricity utility, the island had less than 100 electrically-powered
vehicles (including hybrids) at the start of 2014
That figure had risen to 6,145 by April of this year.Electric vehicles cost even less to run in Iceland than elsewhere
Thanks to its location on a system of volcanoes, Iceland has enough geothermal power to provide free electricity to its roughly 350,000
(Icelanders even enjoy heated sidewalks in some cities.)Electric vehicles are for the most exempt from VAT in Iceland (an exemption that
will end when more than 10,000 EVs are sold) and are totally free of import duty
The government, headed by environmentalist Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir of the Left-Green Movement, says improving the network of
charging stations plays a key role in supporting the transition away from dirty fossil fuels.The removal of similar incentives has caused
sales of EVs to collapse in Denmark, though the prime minister there, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, recently said he's open to reconsidering
subsidies.(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
