Nearly all new cars sold in Norway are now electric, at 96%. Considering less than 10% of new cars sold in America are electric vehicles, that’s a remarkable statistic made possible only by a specific set of circumstances. Warm weather is certainly not one of them.
To be precise, 95.9% of all new cars registered in 2025 were EVs, up from 88.9% in 2024. The number was even higher in December 2025, at 98%, according to fresh data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OVF), as reported by Reuters.
Most of the growth comes from tax incentives, making it cheaper to buy an EV than a gas-powered car in many cases. (The US ended its $7,500 federal EV tax credit in September.) The funding for those credits comes in part from taxes on Norway’s thriving oil and gas producers, according to Offshore Technology Focus. Oil is the country’s single largest industry, according to the International Trade Association. So, Norway is taking money earned on fossil fuels and using it to subsidize cleaner transit.
However, tax credits are not the full story. Norway also taxes gas and diesel cars to make them more expensive, Christina Bu, head of the Norwegian EV association, tells Reuters. “That is often misunderstood outside of Norway. [People] think it’s about tax exemptions and incentives,” Bu says. “ICE (internal combustion engine) cars are taxed out of business in a way.”
Another reason for the country’s adoption could be the wide availability of lower-priced Chinese EVs, which are not available in the US. Chinese EVs had a 13.7% market share in Norway in 2025, up from 10.4% the previous year. The top automaker is BYD, which this week dethroned Tesla as the world’s top EV maker.
Still, the Tesla Model Y was the most popular battery-powered car in Norway in 2025. Tesla was also the nation’s top-selling brand overall for the fifth consecutive year, with a 19.1% market share, followed by Volkswagen (13.3%) and Volvo (7.8%). Tesla is also the most popular EV brand in the US, but Volkswagen’s battery-powered lineup has struggled to cement itself in the US market, and it’s not releasing a 2026 version of its retro-chic ID.Buzz.
Wide charging availability is another factor. Norway has over 28,000 chargers across its road system, and its capital Oslo has one of the highest charger densities in Europe, according to Bloomberg. Charging is often free, and many stations have a high number of stalls so drivers do not have to wait.
Get Our Best Stories!
Your Daily Dose of Our Top Tech News
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy
Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
About Our Expert
Emily Forlini
Senior Reporter
Experience
As a news and features writer at PCMag, I cover the biggest tech trends that shape the way we live and work. I specialize in on-the-ground reporting, uncovering stories from the people who are at the center of change—whether that’s the CEO of a high-valued startup or an everyday person taking on Big Tech. I also cover daily tech news and breaking stories, contextualizing them so you get the full picture.
I came to journalism from a previous career working in Big Tech on the West Coast. That experience gave me an up-close view of how software works and how business strategies shift over time. Now that I have my master’s in journalism from Northwestern University, I couple my insider knowledge and reporting chops to help answer the big question: Where is this all going?