Boosted by Tesla sales, nearly two-thirds of new registrations were all-electric cars in 2021 in Norway, the Road Traffic Information Council (FOV), a specialist body, announced on Monday. A number unequaled in the world
According to the OFV, 64.5% of new cars sold last year in the Scandinavian country – also the largest producer of hydrocarbons in Western Europe – were battery-powered vehicles, compared to 54.3% in 2020.
The milestone of half a million electric vehicles reached in March?
This proportion is against the backdrop of a record number of new registrations: despite the Covid-19 pandemic, 176,276 new cars were sold in Norway, including 113,715 electric.
For example, against a backdrop of a still depressed automobile market, electric cars accounted for 9.8% of new registrations in France last year, a level that is within the European average.
“Few people would have considered 2021 to be a record year for new car sales in Norway and no other country has seen such growth in electric car sales,” commented OFV director Øyvind Solberg Thorsen. .
“At the current rate (…), the Norwegian car fleet will have half a million electric cars by March. We will then approach 20% out of a total of 2.8 million individual cars, which is quite formidable,” he said in a press release.
A pioneer in this field, Norway has set itself the ambition that all its new cars will be “zero emissions” -electric and hydrogen- from 2025. The use of electric propulsion is considered all the more relevant there as the country derives almost all of its electricity from hydraulic dams which produce no greenhouse gas emissions.
Tesla dominates the sales list
While hailing “a milestone”, the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association said it expects the market share of “zero-emission” vehicles to exceed 80% this year with the arrival of new models.
“For the first time, an “all-electric” brand dominates the list of new car sales,” noted its general secretary, Christina Bu, in a press release.
Thanks in particular to the Model 3, the American Tesla indeed won 11.6% of the Norwegian car market last year, ahead of the German manufacturers Volkswagen and Japanese Toyota.
In addition to the Model 3, in pole position, “all-electric” cars (Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model Y, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Audi e-tron, etc.) represented eight of the ten best sellers.
Unlike very heavily taxed diesel or petrol cars, electric cars are tax-free in Norway, making them comparatively cheaper to buy.
They also benefit from many advantages in Norway, even if the authorities have begun to trim some of them, such as free urban tolls or the possibility of using public transport corridors.
Came to power last year, the new center-left Norwegian government also plans to tax the most upscale models by applying VAT on sums exceeding the threshold of 600,000 crowns (60,000 euros).