Over 140 000 electric cars in Norway

The vast majority of electric cars are passenger cars - a total of 139 000. This is an increase of 42.5 per cent compared to 2016.

Electric cars now constitute 5.1 per cent of the passenger car stock compared to 3.7 per cent at the end of 2016. The increase seems set to continue at about the same rate in 2018. In January and February this year, 4 324 electric cars were registered, 4.2 per cent more compared to the same period in 2017.

The market for electric vans has been somewhat slower. As of 31 December 2017, 3 478 vans were registered in the country, 35.4 per cent more than in 2016. The total stock of vans was 470 855 at the end of 2017. A total of 93.5 per cent of the vans were diesel-powered.

Oslo still on top with electric cars

The stock of electric passenger cars in Oslo increased from 16 773 to 24 808 between 2016 and 2017, corresponding to 47.9 per cent. This represented 37 electric cars per 1 000 inhabitants. In addition to Oslo, only Bergen and Bærum have an electric car stock of over 10 000, with 12 782 and 10 950 respectively.

Counted per 1 000 inhabitants, the number of electric cars is highest in Finnøy municipality with 104 (334 electric cars) followed by Askøy with 90 (2 624).

More hybrid cars

At the beginning of 2018, a total of 144 646 hybrid ] passenger cars were registered in the country. This was 58.8 per cent more than at the end of 2016. A total of 46.6 per cent of these were plug-in-hybrid cars. Almost all (96 per cent) were petrol hybrid cars. The highest number of hybrid passenger cars was registered in Oslo, with 36 037.

Fewer petrol cars, more diesel cars

While the number of passenger cars was reduced by 4.7 per cent to 1.14 million from 2016 to 2017, the stock of diesel passenger cars increased by 1.4 per cent to 1.3 million in the same period.

As of 31 December 2017, a total of 3.3 million cars were registered in Norway, 1.9 per cent more than in 2016.

The average age constant

The average age of the passenger car stock is quite stable. At the end of 2017 it was 10.5 years, compared to 10.6 the year before. The average van was 8.8 years old at the end of 2017.

136 000 cars scrapped under refund scheme

A total of 136 203 passenger cars and vans were scrapped under the refund scheme last year: 121 385 passenger cars and 14 818 vans. This was about 1 000 more in total than in the previous year.