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Norway about to run out of EV incentives; plan to be reviewed

As electric vehicle advocates in Norway may ready to celebrate, executives over at Tesla Motors and Nissan may be preparing for a healthy bawl. That's because Norway, whose financial support of plug-in vehicle use have pushed the country to the forefront of plug-in vehicle adoption, is about to reach its government-imposed threshold for electric vehicle and plug-in vehicle incentives, Hybrid Cars says. Two years early, in fact. Norway's perks for EVs and PHEVs include free access to bus lanes, highway tolls, ferries and parking, not to mention a big tax rebate. As a result, the country is less than 250 units away from hitting its 50,000-vehicle limit for those perks, which were initially estimated to expire in 2017. In fact, last month, more than 25 percent of the four new cars sold in Norway were plug-in vehicles. The government is now saying it will review the incentives and put forward a new plan in the next budget, which is due in May. Late last year, Nissan put out a video saying that electric vehicles had about a 15-percent new-vehicle market share in Norway, and that the Japanese automaker had sold more than 15,000 all-electric Leaf vehicles in the country since starting sales there in 2011. Last spring, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Tesla Model S broke Norway's all-time monthly sales record for a single model in March 2014, with almost 1,500 Model S vehicles sold. This is for a country whose population is less than that of Colorado. Whether those days will soon be gone remains in question. Advocates will push for some sort of extension on the perks, but opponents in government say the incentives have cost the country as much as $500 million a year in tax revenue. News Source: Hybrid CarsImage Credit: Elbilforeningen/Flickr Government/Legal Green Nissan Tesla Electric incentives government incentives

New Nissan Leaf looking more and more like 105-mile EV

The next-generation Nissan Leaf could see the light of day as soon as 2017. In the meantime, the Japanese automaker may have a treat for electric-vehicle enthusiasts. Think of it as a 21-mile salute. Looking to spur what's recently been lagging sales, we're hearing rumors that Nissan might offer a top-of-the-line Leaf that will include a 30-kilowatt-hour battery instead of the standard 24-kWh version this fall, Hybrid Cars says, citing InsideEVs. That means that the Leaf's 84-mile single-charge range could be extended to about 105 miles. "We have made no public announcement about the 2016 Nissan LEAF," Nissan spokesman Brian Brockman told AutoblogGreen. "We do not comment on future product details." Nissan could use something fresh with the Leaf, which has a sales pattern that was up last year but down in 2015. Through April, Leaf sales were down 22 percent from a year earlier to 5,638 units. That outpaces the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in by a two-to-one margin, but the second-gen Volt is due some time this fall. As for details on the next-generation Leaf, few have emerged. We've heard the car will look less quirky and, of course, be equipped with a longer single-charge range, but beyond that, it's all a bit of a mystery. Related Video:

Hurricane Sandy cost automakers 15,000 vehicles, may have ruined up to 200k

Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic storm in US history, and its total economic impact is just now coming into view. According to Automotive News, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda are set to scrap around 15,000 new vehicles ruined by the storm. Nissan alone accounts for about 40 percent of those, with 6,000 Nissan and Infiniti models deeded "un-saleable" due to damage. The company saw 56 dealerships shuttered due to the storm, but 51 of those have since reopened.
Toyota, meanwhile, had some 4,000 vehicles at its Newark port facility, and of those, 3,000 may be scrapped. An additional 825 were dealer inventory when they were ruined. Honda and Acura dealers are reportedly sending 3,440 vehicles to the salvage yard. By comparison, Chrysler weathered the storm fairly well with 825 units destroyed, while Hyundai suffered only 400 lost units and Kia scrapped around 200.
As you may recall, Fisker also suffered some losses, and Automotive News reports the manufacturer saw 320 Karma models damaged beyond repair. Ford and General Motors have yet to come up with estimates, and no automaker has commented on the full cost of replacing the vehicles.