New record for electric vehicle registrations in Norway in March

Norway has reached a new record in electric vehicle adoption, with 17,406 vehicles with this propulsion system registered last March. This represents 98.4 percent of all new passenger car registrations that month. According to data from the Norwegian Road Traffic Authority (OFV), the total number of new passenger cars registered was 17,685 units, leaving just 1.6 percent for the rest of propulsion technologies.

This figure slightly surpasses the previous monthly record of 98.3 percent recorded in September 2025. It is striking that only 279 vehicles with other powertrains were registered in March. Of these, 22 were petrol, 126 diesel and the rest hybrids. Even by Norwegian standards, which are already very high, these numbers are remarkable.

The first quarter of the year thus closes with an electric vehicle market share of 97.9 percent. Between January and March, only 558 non-electric passenger cars were registered, compared with 2,606 in the same period of the previous year. After a somewhat slow start to the year, registrations picked up strongly in March. In January only 2,218 passenger cars were registered and in February 7,272, while March nearly tripled February’s figure.

“March shows that the new passenger car market is recovering in Norway after a weak start. We are seeing a clear increase in volume, a new record in electric car share and a sharp decline in registrations of internal combustion engine vehicles.”

Some aspects to consider

The January decline is mainly explained by the regulatory and incentive changes that came into force on 1 January 2026. Many Norwegians brought forward their purchases to November and December to take advantage of the former tax conditions, which led to record figures at the end of the year and a very quiet January. However, this one-off effect is now behind us, as March’s data clearly show.

Analysing this data by brand, Tesla once again led comfortably last March with a 34.8 percent market share, followed by Volvo with 10.1 percent and Toyota with 8.4 percent. Volkswagen took fourth place with 7.2 percent. Meanwhile, in the cumulative first quarter Tesla reaches a 27.4 percent market share, improving on the first quarters of 2024 and 2025.

Among the most in-demand models, the Tesla Model Y remains unbeatable with 14,288 registrations and a 24.3 percent share of the total market. The Model 3 follows with 1,860 units. The third and fourth places in the ranking go to the Volvo EX40 and the Toyota bZ4X respectively, while the Volvo EX30 takes fifth place. Further down are models such as the VW ID.4, the BYD Sealion 7 and the Toyota Urban Cruiser.