Norway registered 17,406 new battery-electric vehicles in March, accounting for 98.4% of all new passenger cars and setting a new monthly record, according to the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council.
A total of 17,685 passenger cars were registered during the month, leaving just 1.6% of the market for non-electric powertrains. Only 279 vehicles fell into this category, including 126 diesel cars and 22 petrol cars, with the remainder consisting of hybrid models.
The record slightly surpassed the previous high of 98.3% recorded in September 2025, highlighting the continued dominance of electric vehicles in the Norwegian market.
For the first quarter, electric vehicles accounted for 97.9% of total registrations, with only 558 non-electric cars registered between January and March, compared with 2,606 during the same period a year earlier.
Geir Inge Stokke of the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council said: “March shows that new passenger car registrations are recovering after a weak start to the year. We are seeing a clear increase in volume, a new record for the share of electric cars, and a significant decline in registrations of cars with internal combustion engines.”
The slow start to 2026 was attributed to regulatory and tax changes introduced at the beginning of the year, which prompted many consumers to bring forward purchases to late 2025. As a result, January registrations dropped sharply before rebounding in March.
Among automakers, Tesla led the market with a 34.8% share, followed by Volvo at 10.1% and Toyota at 8.4%. Volkswagen ranked fourth with 7.2%.
By model, Tesla’s Model Y dominated with 14,288 registrations, followed by the Model 3 with 1,860 units. Other top-selling models included Volvo’s EX40, Toyota’s Toyota bZ4X, and Volvo’s EX30.
Further down the rankings, models such as the Volkswagen ID.4, BYD Sealion 7, Toyota Urban Cruiser, Škoda Elroq and BMW X3 also featured among the top sellers.
The data also showed increasing participation from Chinese manufacturers, including BYD, Xpeng and Zeekr, reflecting growing competition in the Norwegian EV market.
The latest figures reinforce Norway’s position as a global leader in electric vehicle adoption, with internal combustion engine vehicles now accounting for only a marginal share of new registrations.