Electric vehicle registrations in Norway continue to grow

13,384 new electric cars were registered in Norway in May, significantly more than in April and the same month last year. However, as other drive types also made gains, ‘only’ 94 per cent of all new registrations in Norway in May were purely electric. And in terms of models, there is a ray of hope for Tesla.

The 13,384 new electric cars in May are 2,442 more than in April (+22.3 per cent) and 5,491 more than in the same month last year (+69.6 per cent). This means that new electric car registrations in May 2025 have developed very positively in absolute terms. However, compared to April, in which 97 per cent of all new cars were purely electric, 876 new cars with non-electric drive systems were registered in May, bringing the electric car ratio down to 93.9 per cent. Nevertheless, May is also above the annual average of 92.7 per cent so far, which is why Norway is getting ever closer to its own target of all new cars being emission-free vehicles this year, according to the road information authority OFV.

With 14,260 new registrations across all drive types, the Norwegian market as a whole grew by 39.1 per cent year-on-year. “New car sales usually reflect the economic situation in the country. And now there are signs of growing economic optimism,” says OFV Director Øyvind Solberg Thorsen. And as the Norwegian vehicle population is on average 11.5 years old, many cars will probably soon be replaced, which are expected to be almost exclusively by electric cars.

Of the 876 new registrations that were not purely electric, 152 were plug-in hybrids and 497 were full hybrids. With 174 new registrations, diesel-only vehicles still accounted for 1.2 per cent of the market share, while petrol-only vehicles accounted for 0.4 per cent with 53 new registrations in May – which also corresponds to the annual average to date. All drive types have lost market share so far in 2025 (hybrids, for example, from 9.1 to 5.4 per cent), with only zero-emission cars increasing from 86.9 to 92.7 per cent.

The model statistics clearly show that there was one big winner in May: Tesla sold 2,346 Model Ys, making the Model Y the only model to achieve four-digit registration figures in Norway. “What many have referred to as the ‘Tesla shame’ now seems to be history here at home, because in May Tesla alone accounted for almost a fifth of Norwegian new car sales – in good competition with Volkswagen and Toyota. But in terms of share, Tesla in Norway is down after the first five months of the year,” said Solberg Thorsen. However, Norway is not only different from the rest of Europe in terms of Tesla sales; many Chinese car brands are also successful.

“Looking at Tesla sales in Norway both in May and for the year so far, we differ from the rest of Europe where sales of this car brand have seen a noticeable decline. At the same time, many Chinese car brands are doing very well in Norway. There is no ‘China fear’ to be traced either,” added Thorsen: “What seems to apply now is the following: If you think the car is nice, the price is good and you get what you want in terms of space, equipment and range, these are the things that drive your choice. Loyalty to brand and model is no longer very important to most people. Nor is where the car comes from,” he stated.

Behind the Model Y Juniper, the Toyota bZ4X was the second most popular model in Norway with 992 units, and Toyota’s e-SUV is also in second place behind the Model Y (6,002) with 3,976 units so far this year. It is followed by the VW models ID.4 (592), ID.3 (579) and ID.7 (520), ahead of the next MEB model, the Skoda Enyaq, with 379 new registrations. The BYD Sealion 7, the first Chinese model, is close behind with 377 units, just ahead of the MG4 (367) – the Xpeng G6 is also in the top 20 with 174 new registrations. The Volvo EX30, which was still in the lead in March and April, is only in midfield in May with 342 new registrations.

ofv.no (announcement), ofv.no (stats), ofv.no (models, all in Norwegian)