(FILES) Oslo Taxi's Tesla model Y (L) and the NIO ET5 electric vehicle from Nio Inc, a Chinese multinational electric car manufacturer, drive through the Norwegian capital Oslo, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
Oslo: Almost 96 percent of new cars registered in Norway in January were electric, an unparalled number in the world and close to the country's goal of selling only zero-emission vehicles as of this year.
A total of 9,343 new cars were sold in January, of which 8,954 were all-electric, the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) said.
Of the 50 most-sold models, only two were non-electric, the first of which came in 33rd place, the OFV said.
By comparison, the share of electric cars in Europe was just 13.6 percent in the full-year 2024, a decline for the first time since 2020, according to the car manufacturers' lobby ACEA.
"We've never seen this before... If the rest of the year continues like this, we will very soon be close to the 2025 goal," OFV director Oyvind Solberg Thorsen said in a statement.
"But if we want to cross the finish line with 100 percent electric cars, it will be necessary to maintain the incentives that make it profitable to choose an electric car over other other models," he added.
Despite being a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims for all new cars sold to be "zero emission" starting in 2025, which is 10 years ahead of the goal set by the European Union, of which Norway is not a member.
In contrast to Brussels' plans, Oslo has not banned the sale of cars with internal combustion engines, having instead opted for a system of generous tax breaks that have made them competitive against heavily taxed internal combustion cars.
They have also benefitted from toll exemptions, free parking in public car parks, and the use of public transport traffic lanes.
