Electric cars' share of car sales in Norway exceeds 82 percent, Tesla leads

Fully electric cars accounted for 82.4 percent of total car sales in Norway last year, up from 79.3 percent the year before. The Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) announced the figures today. No other country has such a high share of electric cars. US automaker Tesla led the market for the third year running, despite ongoing disputes with influential trade unions, Reuters reported. The Norwegian government began heavily subsidizing electric car sales years ago.

Almost five out of every six new cars sold in Norway last year were powered solely by batteries. Tesla’s share of the overall market rose to 20 percent from 12.2 percent in 2022, according to car registration data.

Norway is a major oil producer. In an effort to become the first country to end sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, the government exempts fully electric vehicles from many taxes levied on cars powered by fossil fuels, although some fees were introduced only last year.

Tesla is a key player in the electric car market, but it is facing growing competition from Chinese automaker BYD. Last year, BYD produced more than three million electric cars, including both battery-electric and hybrid vehicles. Tesla, which makes only fully battery-electric cars, has yet to release its sales figures for last year.

In December, BYD announced that it would build its first European passenger car plant in Hungary. According to the automaker, the factory in the city of Szeged will create thousands of new jobs.