A summary by sector organisation De Danske Bilimportører, published Tuesday, shows that electric cars are closing in on petrol and diesel models when it comes to sales figures in Denmark.

The number of electric cars sales increased by 81 percent in July compared to the same month last year.

Electric vehicles meanwhile comprised 31.3 percent of 11,239 newly-registered cars.

“Danes have an appetite for new cars, especially electric cars,” CEO of De Danske Bilimportører, Mads Rørvig, said.

“At the start of the year there was a lot of uncertainty around car sales and Danes’ demand for new cars because of interest rate increases and general uncertainty, but things are going a lot better than we feared,” he said.

Electric cars now represent around 5 percent of the overall car fleet in Denmark.

A tax subsidy on electric car purchases, which is due to expire, could cause the trend to plateau according to Rørvig, who urged politicians to retain the discount.

Currently, a tax exemption is given on registration of new electric cars in an effort to boost sales and make them better compete with petrol and diesel cars. The exemption is scheduled to be phased out after 2025.

“The development of the market for electric cars depends on politicians. Because if we keep the conditions we have in 2023, we are well on our way to becoming fully electric,” Rørvig said.

“But the law says there will be massive tax increases on electric cars in 2026 and beyond. That risks putting a stop to it,” he said.

“Politicians are aware of this. That’s why we hope that the new political season will provide an opportunity to change this,” he said.