Norway is close to completing its transition to electric vehicles dominating its roads. Tesla is leading the charge as Norway inches closer to an all-EV car market.
Norway is getting close to eliminating new car sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Toyota has already started shifting its plans in the country. The Japanese automaker plans to release five new EVs to compete with Tesla.
In September, Norway reported a total of 12,966 passenger car sales, and 96.4% were battery-electric vehicles. Tesla reached over 4,000 car registrations in September. Later that month, Tesla shared that it had over 60,000 Model Y vehicles on Norway roads.
Norway isn’t exactly ideal for electric vehicles. So many people might be perplexed to see robust EV sales in the market.
“It’s cold here, there are mountains, long distances to drive. There are so many reasons EVs shouldn’t have been a success here, yet we’ve done it,” commented Yngve Sylngstad.
Sylngstad was the head of Norway’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund. He also drives an electric vehicle.
EVs accounted for 94% of Norway’s new car sales in October, nearly double the rate in China. At its current pace, new ICE car sales are expected to stop by next year.
Norway’s EV sales contrast other markets, which have seen a drop in battery electric vehicles. However, EVs weren’t always popular in the country.
Norway’s EV incentives have helped boost sales, but not enough to accelerate adoption. A Bloomberg report suggests that Norway’s diverse EV offerings is the real reason the country will be the first to fully adopt battery electric vehicles. Rivian CEO RJ Scargine made a similar argument recently.
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