Since the government on November 8 overnight removed the bonus of SEK 50,000 - 70,000 for electric cars, sales to private individuals have plummeted, according to the industry organization Mobility Sweden.
The picture is confirmed by Johan Åkhagen Holm, CEO of the car company RA Motor.
- There is a marked decline in electric cars since the bonus disappeared.
It's almost like an on/off button.
It has hit a lot, he says.
In the car showroom, customer Sorin Andrei is looking at new models, but he will not choose a new electric car after the scrapped bonus.
- For three years I have only driven an electric car, but after they removed the electric bonus, I changed my mind and went back to a hybrid car, which is also environmentally friendly but runs on petrol, he says.
Thousands make a difference
A small electric car has now become around SEK 2,500 more expensive a month to lease.
If it previously cost SEK 3,000 a month, the same car can now cost around SEK 5,500.
The removed bonus adds about SEK 2,000, and increased interest about SEK 500, according to Mobility Sweden.
A larger and more expensive electric car may have increased by SEK 3,000 to 5,000.
On top of that comes the impact of inflation and bad times.
- The combination means that private customers now do not buy rechargeable vehicles, says Mattias Bergman, CEO of Mobility Sweden.
Bigger loss awaits
So far this year, the share of private customers has fallen from 50 to 37 percent of newly registered cars.
But the loss is much greater than that because the delivery time can be up to a year.
How few people buy an electric car today will only be seen this fall when they are registered, but according to Mobility Sweden, few orders are made today.
The data is not public, but the industry's temperature gauge is at the bottom.
- Unfortunately, we can see that the rate of orders has fallen dramatically so that the market is ice cold for private customers.
On the other hand, the market is holding up relatively well when it comes to business customers, says Mattias Bergman.