Nine out of ten new cars sold in Norway last year were powered by battery only, registration data showed on Thursday, placing the country within reach of its target of only adding cars that are electric on the road by 2025.

Tesla is the leading electric car company in Norway, with 19 per cent of the market, followed by Volkswagen, Toyota, Volvo and BMW. “In 2025, it will be interesting to see whether new Chinese brands and models will manage to strengthen their position among buyers,” said Mr Thorsen. AFP

Chinese electric cars have surged to account for almost 10% of new car sales in Norway in only five years, data from the country's road federation (OFV) showed on Thursday. Wealthy Norway is far ahead of most countries in the switch to electric vehicles and unlike the European Union and the United States has not imposed import tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Of the 128,691 new car registrations last year, 114,400 were electric, the highest share of any major national car market and up from an 82% share in 2023. Norway aims for all new cars sold to be "zero emission" starting in 2025,