Norway becomes first country to see EV ownership crack 50 per cent

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Norway has become the first country in the world where EV sales accounted for over half of all new vehicle sales.

According to the Opplysningsradet for Veitrafikken (OFV, “Information Council for Road Traffic”), EV sales officially accounted for 54.3 per cent of the new-car market there in 2020. Incredibly, the number for 2019 wasn’t too far off, at 42.4 percent.

The numbers don’t appear to stop at 50 per cent either; the best month for EV sales was December, at 66.7 per cent. OFV said the numbers were boosted by the arrival of new models.

Electric vehicles took four of the top spots for vehicle sales, starting with the Audi e-tron, followed by the Tesla Model 3, the Volkswagen ID.3, and the Nissan Leaf. While the fifth vehicle on the list was the Volkswagen Golf, it’s unclear whether or not the electric version of the vehicle was the best-selling, as the list does not state the engine type.

Despite Norway being the largest producer of oil in Western Europe, heavy subsidies have allowed for significant headway in electric mobility.

Electricity is primarily produced from hydroelectric dams in Norway, which means its goal of all new cars there being “zero emission” by 2025 could become a reality. Other countries around the world still have the problem of their electricity coming from dirty sources such as coal, which disconnects the designation of “zero emissions” from the truth.

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