Norwegian EV registrations return to previous levels

In February, 7,272 new passenger cars were registered in Norway, of which 7,127 were battery-electric. This means that only 145 vehicles did not feature a fully electric drivetrain. Overall registrations were 18.7 per cent lower than in the same month last year.

“Viewed in isolation, this may seem dramatic,” said the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV). “However, when examining the figures week by week, a different picture emerges: in the last two weeks of February, registration numbers were only 5.8 per cent below the corresponding period in 2025.” OFV interprets this as a sign that the market may be stabilising after the sharp downturn at the turn of the year.

The decline follows regulatory and incentive changes that took effect on 1 January 2026. Many buyers brought forward purchases to November and December to benefit from the previous purchase tax regime, resulting in record registrations at the end of the year and a weak January, when only 2,084 new electric cars were registered.

“We are now seeing signs that the market is returning to a more normal level of activity, similar to what we experienced after the VAT reform in 2022. At that time, shifts in demand led to a weak start to 2023. We are observing the same pattern this year,” said OFV Director Geir Inge Stokke.

A breakdown of the February data shows that battery-electric vehicles accounted for a 98.01 per cent market share. Diesel cars represented 0.92 per cent with 67 registrations, while 40 petrol plug-in hybrids accounted for 0.55 per cent. Petrol hybrids made up 0.28 per cent with 20 units, and twelve pure petrol cars accounted for 0.17 per cent. Six diesel plug-in hybrids completed the statistics with a 0.08 per cent share.

By brand, Tesla led the market in February with a 16.6 per cent share, ahead of Toyota at 12.9 per cent. Volkswagen ranked third with 8.6 per cent, marking a notable decline compared with February 2025.

“The market is characterised by high competition, promotional campaigns, and a broad model range in the mid-size SUV segment, which continues to account for a large portion of sales volume,” OFV stated.

At model level, the Tesla Model Y topped the rankings with 1,073 registrations and a 14.8 per cent share. The Model 3 followed further down the table in 16th place with 130 registrations. Toyota’s bZ4X secured second place with 514 units, while the new Urban Cruiser ranked fourth with 404 units. Between them, the Volvo EX40 took third place with 425 registrations. The Xpeng G9 ranked fifth with 254 units, ahead of several MEB-based models from the Volkswagen Group, including the Skoda Enyaq (235), Elroq (232), VW ID.4 (228) and ID.3 (191). The Deepal S05 from the Changan Group completed the top ten.

ofv.no (announcement), ofv.no (monthly evaluation), ofv.no (models, all three in Norwegian)