Electric cars hit 65% of Norway sales in 2021

Electric cars made up 65% of Norway's new sales in 2021

as the country pursues its goal of becoming the first to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars.

(POLESTAR CEO, THOMAS INGENLATH) "Norway was the market where obviously there was the biggest openness for EVs."

With a population of 5.4 million, Norway has the world's highest proportion of electric vehicles.

Overall new sales rose by 25% in 2021 to more than 170,000 cars.

Almost two thirds of them were fully electric.

Tesla was the top selling automobile brand overall in 2021.

And the Tesla Model 3 was the single most popular model of the year in the Scandinavian nation.

So what's driving the shift?

Oil-producing Norway exempts battery electric vehicles from taxes imposed on internal combustion engines.

This tax break is expected to help drive the proportion of overall electric sales as high as 80% in 2022.

And so, while small, affluent Norway is seen as a key market for electric vehicle players, such as Polestar.

Here’s Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath.

"Norway was the market where obviously there was the biggest openness for EVs, there was the biggest understanding for what it means to drive an EV and the biggest welcoming for actually having an alternative."

Chinese electric-car maker Nio launched lavish showrooms in central Oslo in 2021.

The company also plans to install charging and battery swapping stations.

(HEAD OF NIO NORWAY, MARIUS HAYLER) "70% already have an EV and of course, going more into the north of Norway, the infrastructure and the charging possibilities are not as good as in Oslo, but we are getting there."

Norway plans to end petrol and diesel powered car sales by 2025.