10,051 new electric cars in Norway

Electric car registrations in Norway have again seen a significant increase. The 10,051 new electric cars registered in April represent a significant plus compared to March and the same month last year. And there is more: the Tesla Model Y was no longer the best-selling car in April.

Compared to March, the 10,051 newly registered electric cars in April represent an increase of 1,342 units or 15.4 per cent. Compared to April 2023, the growth is even more significant. Some 7,471 electric cars were registered at that time, which means that registrations increased by 2,580 vehicles or 34.5 per cent in April 2024.

Across all drive types, 11,241 passenger cars were newly registered in Norway in April (+25.2 per cent compared to April 2023), according to the road authority OFV. The proportion of ‘zero-emission cars,’ as it is officially called in Norway, was therefore 89.4 per cent. However, as fuel cell vehicles only play a subordinate role, almost all of the 10,051 electrically powered new cars are battery-electric. If plug-in hybrids are also included, 91 per cent of all new cars have a charging connection.

That means the market share of purely electric cars has increased significantly over the year; in April 2023, it was ‘only’ 83.2 per cent. It becomes even more apparent if you look back another twelve months: in April 2022, the figure was 74.1 per cent.

The PHEV market share of just 1.6 per cent shows that the number of part-time electric vehicles in Norway continues to decline. In April, just 178 new PHEVs hit the road, 75 per cent fewer than in April 2023. In the current year (629 new plug-in hybrids), the decline is similar at -71.9 per cent. Full hybrids still accounted for 520 new registrations in April, while petrol-only vehicles still had a market share of 1.2 per cent with 136 vehicles. However, an unusually high number of new cars with diesel engines were registered in April (356 units), giving diesel a market share of 3.2 per cent. However, in a pure import market like Norway, one-off effects can play an important role. For example, when a shipload of new cars arrives, the registrations of certain models or manufacturers can accumulate in one month.

That can also be seen when looking at the April statistics by vehicle: the Tesla Model Y, which was the undisputed leader in the first quarter, only achieved 701 new registrations in April, placing fourth. At the top of the model ranking was the Volvo EX30 with 1,191 new registrations, followed by the VW ID.4 (986) and VW ID.3 (749).

The quartet is followed by the Toyota bZ4X (519), the Audi Q4 e-tron (407), MG4 (361) and then a fairly narrow midfield consisting of the Hyundai Kona (315), Nissan Ariya (295), Ford Mustang Mach-E (295) and Honda e:Ny1 (283). By contrast, models still well-placed in 2023, such as the Skoda Enyaq (133), Volvo XC40, or now EX40 (154), are noticeably behind. In the case of the EX40, the market launch of the more compact and cheaper EX30 may have persuaded some customers to switch.

ofv.no, ofv.no (models, both in Norwegian)