Norway has been extremely successful in introducing electric vehicles – based on the Norwegian Road Federation, 82% of recent cars sold in the country in 2023 were electric. This high adoption rate could be attributed to the generous subsidies the Nordic country has offered to EV owners, in addition to investments in charging infrastructure.
sales in the country may represent only a fraction of the 1.8 million vehicles the company delivered globally last 12 months, but its importance to the electric vehicle maker goes beyond revenue. Tesla’s early presence in the country made Norway a key testing ground for the company and a national model for the transition to electric vehicles. As a result, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made quite a few trips to the small Nordic country and has often praised its support for technological change.
Norwegians were the first European customers to receive deliveries of the Tesla Model S in 2013. In April 2014, Tesla broke the Norwegian record for the highest monthly sales of a single model, electric or gas, with its Model S. The current best-selling model is Tesla Model Y. Tesla accounted for about 20% of all vehicles sold in the country last 12 months, based on the Norwegian Road Federation.
However, with increasing competition from other electric car makers including Toyota, Skoda, Volkswagen and BYD, it stays to be seen whether Norwegians will proceed to favor Tesla in the future.
CNBC traveled to Norway to satisfy with local people, government officials and experts to learn how Tesla has change into so successful in the Scandinavian country. Watch the video for the full story.
