Green cars hit record highs

Green is the new black as sales of environmentally friendly cars hit the roof in Sweden. Sales of green cars hit a record high during the year's first quarter.

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According to a survey done by BIL Sweden, Stockholm county tops the number of green cars and Västerbotten county in northern Sweden has the highest number of diesel engines.

Trollhättan council in west Sweden claims the highest number of environmentally friendly cars in the country, with 52.3 percent of newly registered cars waving the green flag. Öckerö council and Torsås council come in 2nd and 3rd place.

Of Sweden's big city councils, Stockholm city council boasts 40.7 percent green cars, Gothenburg 40.3 percent and Malmö 25.8 percent. The national average for green vehicles is at 29.5 percent compared to 13.9 percent for the same period last year.

Of the counties, Stockholm comes up trumps again with 36 percent of cars classified as environmentally friendly. In second place is Västra Götaland county with 33.6 percent and Östergötland county with 31 percent.

Diesel engines take the top spot in northern Sweden with Västerbotten county coming in at 48.3 percent, closely followed by Jämtland county at 46.8 percent and Norrbotten county at 45.1 percent.

According to the survey, the national average for diesel engines is at 35.5 percent compared to 29.2 percent last year.