Registrations figures for last month show that the LEAF took almost 6% of the total passenger vehicle market and is currently the country’s fourth best selling car for the year to date with over 3% of the market.

Jean-Pierre Diernaz, Nissan Europe director of electric vehicles, said: ‘To get the number one spot is an extraordinary sales performance, even for the world's best selling electric car, but to be number four in the charts for 2013 so far is something we are incredibly proud of. We continue to be successful in the main Norwegian cities, but the majority of our growth is coming from rural areas, which shows the breadth of the Nissan LEAF’s appeal.’

Norway has been the centre of the electric vehicle market in Europe for some time, with a package of incentives including zero VAT and zero road tax for electric vehicles as part of efforts to improve air quality for all citizens.