Norway’s electric vehicle market continued its rapid expansion in August, with 13,482 new battery-electric cars registered, accounting for 97% of all new passenger car sales. The country has long held one of the highest electrification rates in the world, though the latest figures stand out even by local standards.
“We have never seen such a high overall share of electric cars at the beginning of September, even though there have been individual months with a higher share,” said Øyvind Solberg Thorsen, Director of the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV). “Of the almost 14,000 new passenger cars in August, fewer than 500 were petrol or diesel models.”
Overall registrations climbed 25.2% year-on-year in August to 13,915 units, nearly all of them fully electric. For the year to date, sales reached 98,996 units, up 25.6% from the same period in 2024, with battery-electric cars making up 19 out of 20 of those.
The shift is also evident in consumer financing choices. According to OFV, private leasing of new cars has declined, from 20% of new registrations in January to 16% by August. “Some car dealers are offering promotions with very low interest rates, in some cases even zero per cent over longer periods. Many importers have in effect taken advantage of the central bank’s rate cuts, making it easier and cheaper for people to buy a car outright than to lease one,” Solberg Thorsen said.
Market data shows battery-electric cars dominated every segment, while plug-in hybrids and combustion models lost further ground. Plug-in petrol hybrids made up just 1.4% of August registrations, down from a 2.1% year-to-date share, while diesels and petrol cars each slipped to around 1% or less of the market.
Among individual models, Tesla’s German-built Model Y retained its lead, registering 2,456 vehicles, equal to 17.7% of the total market. It was followed by the VW ID.4 (656 units) and Tesla Model 3 (552 units). Other Volkswagen Group models, including the Skoda Enyaq, VW ID.3 and ID.7, also ranked high, while the Volvo EX30 and BMW iX1 joined the top ten.
Tesla led the manufacturer rankings with 3,014 vehicles in August, ahead of Volkswagen with 1,782. Volvo followed with 870 registrations, while BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz rounded out the leading brands.
