There has been sharp rise in the sale of fully electric cars in the run up to new tax rules on company vehicles, motoring organisation Bovag said on Monday.

From January, company car drivers will have to pay tax on 8% of the value of cheaper electric cars, but for cars worth over €45,000, the add-on will be 22%. At the moment, electric company cars are liable for tax on just 4% of their new catalogue value.

Bovag expects more than 50,000 new all-electric cars will be registered this year, taking the total on the Dutch roads to 100,000 within a year.

Teslas, the Model 3 in particular, are proving the most popular electric cars, with more than 8,000 being bought in the last month of the year.