
In the last six months of 2019, almost half of new cars sold in Norway were all-electric models. In comparison to the same period last year, this figure is up by a quarter. This ensures that Norway retains its title of the country with the largest electric vehicle sales in the world. The Norwegian Road Federation (NRF), while announcing the data yesterday, said that the Tesla Model 3 was the largest selling vehicle in Norway. From the month of January to June, 48.4 per cent of the total vehicle sales in the country accounted for electric vehicles. In comparison, electric vehicle sales accounted for 31.2 per cent for the full year 2018.
In a move to end the sale of diesel and petrol vehicles in Norway by the middle of the next decade, the country exempts battery-driven cars from the heavy taxes imposed on vehicles powered by fossil fuel. It also offers benefits such as discounts on road tolls. The policy has boosted brands such as Tesla, Nissan, Hyundai and BMW, which all offer fully electric vehicles, rather than hybrids that use electric motors to drive the car but also have a combustion engine.
Brands without fully electric offerings, such as Ford and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz, have seen sales drop, although Ford and Mercedes are among several automakers that have promised to offer electric cars in Norway from 2020.
California-based Tesla sold 3,760 vehicles in Norway in June, for a 24.5 per cent share of all cars during the month, and was also the top-selling brand for the first six months. Most of its sales were of the mid-sized Model 3, while the bigger Model S and Model X have seen lower year-on-year volumes.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), which includes the more widely-sold plug-in hybrids when counting electric cars, measured Norway’s share at 39 per cent of sales in 2017, far ahead of second-placed Iceland on 12 per cent and Sweden on 6 per cent.