Are Electric Cars Becoming the Norm in Any Countries?

Despite being a major exporter of fossil fuels, Norway has been leading the world in per capita electric vehicle sales for the past several years. And in recent months, the Scandinavian nation has been making even greater strides towards having an entirely electric fleet of passenger vehicles. In the first half of 2019, 48.3% of all new vehicles sold in Norway were fully electric, compared with 31.2% in all of 2018. With the goal of ending sales of fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2025, Norway has promoted electric vehicles with tax exemptions for battery-powered cars and other incentives for drivers to avoid diesel and petrol. These policies have resulted in sales of fully-electric vehicles outperforming even hybrid vehicles. Tesla is currently the most popular car brand in Norway, and its mid-sized Model 3 was the country's top-selling passenger vehicle from January to July 2019.

Electrifying Norway's cars:

• In March 2019, fully-electric vehicles reached a record 58% share of new vehicle sales in Norway.
• In 2018, the top-selling car in Norway was the Nissan Leaf: this was the first time that an all-electric model had been the best-selling new passenger vehicle in any country.
• Ninety-eight percent of the electricity generated in Norway comes from hydropower.