Culture 3 min read

World First: Electric Vehicles Outsell Petrol Cars in Norway

Norway is showing the world how popular electric vehicles can be. ¦ navee sangvitoon / Shutterstock.com

Norway is showing the world how popular electric vehicles can be. ¦ navee sangvitoon / Shutterstock.com

Norway is a contrasting country that, while being one of the world’s largest polluters, also provides an example to follow in climate action.

Perhaps Norway wants to make up for its significant contribution to global climate disruption —  fossil fuels exports — through an exemplary ecological strategy.

It’s getting quieter in Oslo, Norway’s capital, as cars are increasingly rare. The city’s government plans to make it car-free by 2020 by banning private cars from the city center in favor of public transport options and bikes.

The ban also includes electric vehicles because the focus is to free as much public space as possible to pedestrians and cyclists.

But elsewhere in Oslo and Norway at large, EVs are phasing out combustion-engine vehicles that seem to be on their way to disappear from Norwegian roads.

Tesla Model 3 Pushes Norway to EV Milestone

As of writing this piece, analysts were still looking forward to Tesla’s report on the first quarter of 2019 because it means a lot for the company and the auto industry.

Tesla Inc has just released its Q1 results reporting a record decline in deliveries (31 percent), and a drop in its shares by 11 percent.

The Model 3 made the bulk of the company’s sales in the first quarter of the year, with 62,950 units delivered compared to last year’s fourth quarter (90,966).

These figures might be due in large part to a weaker demand in the U.S., but elsewhere in the global market, Tesla sales are helping a country like Norway to make EV history.

Model 3 sedans have lifted demand in the Norwegian market during March to a new record level.

According to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, electric vehicles made up 58.4 percent of all car sales in the country in March with 10,316 units sold.

For the first quarter, battery-powered cars hit a market share of over 48 percent, and is expected to remain in this ballpark for the rest of the year.

Christina Bu, the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association general secretary, thinks through these “historically high” EV sales “Norway shows the whole world that the electric car can replace cars powered by gasoline and diesel and be an important contribution in the fight to reduce C02 emissions”.

Norway is one of the countries leading the EV revolution in the world, and with this new milestone, it sets a benchmark for other countries.

Of the 10,000 electric vehicles registered in Norway in March, over the half are Model 3 sedans, accounting for 29 percent of all new car sales. With the Model 3, Tesla has set a new record in Norway, beating last year’s record held by Nissan Leaf, which sold 2,172 cars in March 2018.

But, would Tesla’s EV sedan hold its market share in Norway, and in other EV markets, this year with Volvo coming hot on its trail with a technically aggressive contender in its Polestar 2 model?

Read More: Volvo’s Electric Offensive: How EVs Can Become the Car of the Future

 

First AI Web Content Optimization Platform Just for Writers

Found this article interesting?

Let Zayan Guedim know how much you appreciate this article by clicking the heart icon and by sharing this article on social media.


Profile Image

Zayan Guedim

Trilingual poet, investigative journalist, and novelist. Zed loves tackling the big existential questions and all-things quantum.

Comments (0)
Most Recent most recent
You
116
share Scroll to top

Link Copied Successfully

Sign in

Sign in to access your personalized homepage, follow authors and topics you love, and clap for stories that matter to you.

Sign in with Google Sign in with Facebook

By using our site you agree to our privacy policy.