The Tesla Model 3 is making its mark in Norway as it has already become the 6th highest-selling Battery Electric Vehicle in the country despite only being on sale for seven months. The car the Model 3 surpassed for sixth place was its larger stablemate, the Tesla Model X.
Elbilstatistikk.no, a website that tracks EV sales, car registrations and vehicle imports, gives real-time updates on how many units of each car are sold on a daily basis. According to the site, the Nissan Leaf is the highest-selling electric vehicle of all-time with over 56,600 vehicles sold, and 10 sold on September 23.
However, the Model 3 has sold just shy of 13,000 units since its initial unveiling in February 2019 and has sold 233 today. In September alone, 1,448 Model 3s have been purchased. The second-place vehicle for the month is the Nissan Leaf, selling only 491.
Elbilstatistikk.no also reports that nine of the last ten vehicle registrations in Norway have been those of the Tesla Model 3.
Tesla has been a popular brand in Norway. With the help of incentives that encourage and award zero-emissions vehicles, the company’s Q1 market share in the country accounted for 50% of all electric vehicles sold. The California Automaker first rolled out the Model S in 2014. The company’s midsize sedan sold its 20,000th vehicle in June 2019 and it seems that the Model 3 will soon surpass it. Tesla registered its 40,000th vehicle in Norway in June.
Electric vehicles as a whole have been widely popular in the country due to lawmakers passing a bill that will ban petrol-powered cars by 2025. Norway is 1 of 12 countries (including the Netherlands) in the world that have proposed and passed a gas-car ban that will take effect in the future.
The increasing popularity of Tesla vehicles across the world proves that the inevitable phase-out of gas-powered vehicles may come sooner than expected. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the purchase of a battery-powered electric vehicle, Tesla or not, helps the push toward 100% sustainable transportation become more realistic every day. In fact, Musk said this past weekend in response to a Tesla vs. Porsche article that “either way, sustainable energy wins!”