Data from the association nof electric cars point to 8,241 electric cars sold in 2018, a year when “they sold as many cars as between 2010 and 2017,” said Henrique Sánchez, the president of the association.

Sales increased by 95% compared to 2017 when 4,237 cars were sold.

The sector maintains the growth trend in 2019 and, in the first quarter, 2,174 100% electric cars were sold, against 756 in the same period in 2018, representing a rise of 188%.

The increase in sales of hybrid cars was 17%, with 926 units sold in 2019, compared to 792 in 2018.

The growth is due to the “increase to 38 in the number of models available in the market and with the increase in the autonomy of vehicles,” he explained.

At a world level, Portugal is the sixth country to sell more of these vehicles, just ahead of Norway, with 50% of the market share, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands and China.

Among the European countries, Portugal is third behind the Netherlands and Austria, but drops to fourth in the market share, being surpassed by Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands.

In Portugal, there are 26,000 electric cars registered, according to the data.