Electric car market share hits record high in Norway, Audi e-tron leading the pack

Electric car market share hit a record high in Norway for the first half of the year as overall car sales have been hit by the pandemic but less so for electric vehicles.

Norway has long been the world’s leading market when it comes to electric vehicles. They have the most aggressive electrification goal of any market with the aim to have every new car on the road being electric by 2025.

Considering the world’s average market share for EVs currently stand at around 3%, this is a really ambitious goal, but the nation is tracking well. Last year, 56% of Norway’s new cars were electric (full electric or plug-in hybrids).

From the first half of 2020, EV market share in Norway is trending closer to 60% and the all-electric vehicle market share went from 45% to 48% from January through June. By numbers, EV sales are down 19% this year, which is not surprising considering the global pandemic, but market shares are growing because overall car sales are down more than 24% during the year.

Gasoline and diesel vehicles are taking a much bigger hit than EV sales. This is highlighted by Tesla announcing this morning much stronger than anticipated deliveries during the second quarter.

However, Tesla is not the one leading EV sales in Norway anymore. The Audi e-tron leading the pack with over 5,500 electric SUVs delivered in Norway during the first half of the year.

Electrek’s Take

While EVs are tracking good in Norway in the first half, I think the second half is going to be where EVs leave the rest of the market behind.

VW is talking about ID.3 being the best-selling car in the market this year even though they only plan to start deliveries at the end of the year. We know that the German automaker has been stockpiling the electric car, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they drop 15,000 ID.3 cars on the market at the end of the year.

I can see all-electric cars reaching a 65% market share in Norway by the end of the year — going up to 75% with plug-in hybrids. The 2025 goal is going to be easily achievable in my opinion, with several more EVs hitting the road in the market in the next few years.