Electric vehicles made up almost 80% of new car registrations in Norway last year, setting a new record, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.
Of the 138,265 new electric cars sold in the country, 12.2% were made by Tesla, the top seller in the market. This marks a significant increase from the previous record of 64.5% set in 2021. In comparison, electric cars only made up 8.6% of new car registrations in the European Union during the first nine months of 2022.
Electric cars made up 82.8% of sales in December, as Norwegian households rushed to purchase them before a tax change that went into effect in 2023. As of January 1, the 25% sales tax exemption on the purchase of new electric vehicles applies only to the first 500,000 Norwegian kroner (about $50,500) of the price.
The Tesla Model Y was the most popular model in Norway in the previous year, with 17,356 new registrations (4,524 in December alone). This gave the Model Y a market share of ten percent across all drive types, putting it in third place in the manufacturer ranking, ahead of brands such as BMW, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia. In addition, the Model Y’s registrations surpassed the record set by the VW Beetle in 1969.
“Eight out of 10 people choosing fully electric instead of combustion engines is a considerable step towards Norway reaching its climate goal of 100% BEV [battery electric vehicle] sales in 2025. “Our message to the rest of the world is crystal clear: now there is no excuse for the internal combustion engines’ unnecessary pollution when the climate crisis is so urgent to solve,” said Christina Bu, Secretary General of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association.
