Antti Kaikkonen, chair of the Centre Party's parliamentary group told Lännen Media that he fears Finland will fall behind other countries on environmental issues unless the government takes swift measures to get the country back on track. He said one way to do that would be to encourage people to choose electric cars through the use of subsidies.
Kaikkonen, who gave the interview just before the Centre Party's summer group meeting which began on Monday, said that the electric car subsidy topic has already been discussed at three Centre-led ministries; the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Communications and Employment and the Ministry of the Economy.
Kaikkonen said that an incentive to boost electric car sales would need to be more substantial than just a few hundred euros.
He pointed to Sweden's recent upswing in electric car sales after officials there implemented a grant of about 4,000 euros, according to Lännen Media.
Finland lags behind Sweden, Norway
Kaikkonen also said an electric car subsidy would help Finland move towards EU goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He noted that the number of vehicles on Finnish roads is expected to grow substantially in coming years and electric cars would help curb the environmental impact.
According to the Finnish Transport Safety Agency only 122 electric cars were registered between January and July of this year.
Finland's Nordic neighbour Norway, which is a world leader in terms of electric cars per capita, offers electric car buyers significant car tax reductions.
Additionally, Norwegian buyers of new electric cars don't pay VAT, are permitted to drive the quiet vehicles in less-congested bus lanes and don't have to pay road tolls.
For a few years running, approximately 15 percent of newly-registered vehicles in Norway have been electric cars.
