Norway's electric vehicle market hits Record 98.7% as Tesla loses ground

Norway’s shift to electric vehicles reached a new high in August, with battery-electric cars accounting for a record 98.7% of new passenger car registrations.

A total of 13,451 new passenger cars were registered during the month, down 3.4% from August 2025, according to the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV). Yet the decline in the overall market masked a major change in consumer demand: the share of fully electric cars rose from 96.9% a year earlier and 97.6% in July.

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For the first eight months of 2026, electric cars accounted for 97.8% of new passenger car registrations, putting Norway’s EV market close to an all-electric new-car market.

Volkswagen Leads Norway’s EV Market

Competition between car brands is also changing.

Volkswagen was the most registered brand in August, while Toyota and Xpeng followed in the brand ranking. The VW ID.4 was the month’s best-selling model, followed by the Toyota bZ4X and BMW iX3.

Six of Norway’s ten largest brands recorded higher registrations than in August 2025. Xpeng and Toyota posted particularly strong growth, while BYD, BMW, Volvo and Audi also increased registrations.

OFV CEO Geir Inge Stokke said the market was becoming more balanced.

“The passenger car market is declining slightly, but development varies significantly between brands.”

He added that several major brands were growing as competition for customers became more balanced.

Chinese EV Brands Double Their Market Share

Chinese electric car manufacturers are gaining a larger share of Norway’s market.

Xpeng and BYD together represented 11.4% of new passenger car registrations in August, compared with 4.9% in August 2025. Registrations of the two brands combined were more than twice as high as a year earlier.

The growth comes as Tesla’s performance weakens.

Tesla recorded 2,387 fewer registrations in August than in the same month last year. All other manufacturers combined recorded an increase of 1,921 vehicles.

According to OFV, without Tesla’s decline, Norway’s passenger car market would have grown by 17% rather than contracted.

Toyota Closes the Gap With Tesla

Tesla remains Norway’s most registered brand for the year so far, but Toyota is rapidly reducing the gap.

Toyota’s registrations have increased 46.4% since the beginning of the year, while Tesla’s have fallen 11%. The difference between the two brands has therefore narrowed from 9,173 vehicles during the same period last year to 3,740.

Volkswagen ranks third year-to-date.

The shift shows that Norway’s EV market is no longer dominated by a single brand. More manufacturers are competing for consumers as electric cars become the standard choice for new passenger vehicles.

Electric Vans Also Gain Ground

Electrification is spreading into commercial vehicles, although at a slower pace.

Norway registered 3,139 new vans in August, an increase of 10.6% from a year earlier. Electric vans increased 17% and accounted for 44.9% of registrations during the month.

Since the start of the year, electric vans have made up 53.1% of new van registrations.

Diesel registrations rose sharply in the second half of August, when diesel vans accounted for 56.1% of registrations compared with 36.3% in the first half. OFV linked the increase to a higher CO₂ component in the registration tax for combustion-engine vans that took effect on September 1. For some models, the fee increased by as much as NOK 15,000.

Norway’s Next EV Challenge Is the Existing Fleet

Norway is now closer than ever to its goal of an emission-free new passenger car market. However, combustion-engine vehicles can still be registered.

The next challenge is therefore the existing fleet.

“Further emission reductions increasingly depend on how quickly older petrol and diesel vehicles disappear from the existing fleet,” Stokke said.

Norway’s total on-road fleet has passed 1 million electric passenger cars, accounting for nearly 30% of all cars on the road.

The country also continues to support EV adoption through its tax system, charging network and incentives, while renewable hydropower supplies most of its domestic electricity.