9 in 10 new cars in Norway now EVs
Norway is on track to become the first ecountry in the world to go all-electric with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounting for 89% of new cars sold in 2024 – according to figures released recently by the Norwegian Road Federation.
In 2023, the BEV share reached 82.4%, compared with 79.3% in 2022.
By contrast, in the UK, electric cars made up only 20% of new car registrations in 2024. Although this was a record high, and up from 16.5% in 2023. In the US, the figure was just 8% last year, up from 7.6%
Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association secretary-general Christina Bu says the association is hopeful that the Nordic country will reach 100% BEV new-car sales this year.
“We can already celebrate that electric cars have become the natural choice for most people. I firmly believe this trend will continue, and Norway is on track to reach its 2025 goal.”
In 2016, the Norwegian Parliament committed to the goal that all new cars sold in 2025 should be zero-emission vehicles. Norway’s best-selling vehicle is the Tesla Model Y. The shift in drive-train in Norway is primarily the result of a comprehensive set of government incentives promoting the sale of zero-emission vehicles.
In terms of trucks and buses, 12.6% of newly registered heavy-duty vehicles in Norway were classified as zero-emission last year, with the goal to reach 100% by 2030, with the use of biogas included.
For more than 75 years Oslo-based car dealership Harald A Møller has been importing Volkswagens, but early in 2024 it bid farewell to fossil fuel cars.Now all the passenger vehicles for sale in its showroom are electric (EV).
“We think it’s wrong to advise a customer coming in here today to buy an ICE [internal combustion engine] car, because the future is electric,” chief executive Ulf Tore Hekneby told the BBC, as he walks around the cars on display. “Long-range, high-charging speed. It’s hard to go back.”
