Sweden's second-best in the world of electric cars

There is only one country in the world which sells more electric/hybrid cars than Sweden right now and that’s Norway. Environmental development surrounding the car has been very successful and sales of electric vehicles so far this year has increased by 75 per cent in Sweden. Stockholm county has the highest numbers of electric/hybrid cars.

For several months in a row, we have seen how the percentage of cars sold in Sweden is increasing and all indications are that it will be a record year for vehicle sales again this year. Port of Södertälje handles between 10 000 to 12 000 imported cars each month but only four percent of these cars are electric or hybrid vehicles, but this figure is also rising. In addition to the success of rechargeable cars Sweden tops the European list for users of biofuels. The average emissions of new cars decreased in 2015 at a faster rate in Sweden than the EU average.

- We note record numbers every month, says Richard Ekeberg, production leader at Port of Södertälje. And this year’s statistics for May is the best month of May since Bil Sweden started keeping records back in 1946. These figures go to show that the Swedish economy is doing well.

To meet the demands of the future Port of Södertälje last year installed two charging stations and located near the head office. The stations are not used all that often now but they sure will be in the future as electric cars become more popular.
A frequent user is Benny Gustafsson, production manager at Skandiatransport. He works in the area and recharges his Volvo V60 when he needs to. It takes about two hours to fully recharge the car.

- I chose to drive a hybrid car for the sake of the environment, says Benny. It’s really practical to be able to recharge my car here and so close to my place of work. On a full charge I am able to drive 50 km then I switch over to the diesel motor. During a normal working week I can get by just using electricity, that’s if I don’t accelerate too hard and go off-roading.