Its high popularity has ranked the LEAF as the country’s second most popular Nissan, with peak sales in February making it the manufacturer’s best-seller that month and the ninth biggest selling passenger car at 2% of the total Norwegian car market.

Nissan said its popularity was a good demonstration of the impact of a comprehensive set of incentives and advanced charging infrastructure on demand. Electric vehicle buyers are offered zero VAT, no new car tax, free parking, use of the bus lanes in Oslo and exemption from some tolls. There are 3,500 public charging posts in Oslo alone, many of which are free to use.

Speaking at the handover earlier this week, Olivier Paturet, general manager of zero emission strategy at Nissan Europe, said: ‘The Norwegian package of incentives is unsurpassed and the recharging infrastructure is established and accessible. We can see that Norway is leading the way with its proactive approach to encouraging its citizens to drive electric vehicles. We hope it will continue with the further development and upgrading of the charging infrastructure.’

Sales have been taking place at a select group of nine dealers across the country, and the 1,000^th vehicle was bought from a dealer who has in that time sold 550 LEAFs, becoming one of the largest volume outlets for the electric vehicle in the world.

Pål Simonsen, country manager for Norway commented: " In a short period of time LEAF became our second best-selling model, proving that EVs can be valid and competitive alternative to combustion engine cars. We are absolutely committed to LEAF and we are working with our Dealers on commercial strategy to go even further.’