Norway hits electric car milestone: Almost 60% of cars sold last month run on batteries

Norway is a leader in the adoption of zero-emission vehicles and the government has set an ambitious goal to stop selling new gas and diesel passenger cars and vans by 2025.

In March, 18,375 new cars were registered in the country and 10,732 of those were zero-emission vehicles, according to Norway's Road Traffic Information Council, or OFV. That's more double the number of zero-emission vehicles sold in March 2018.

Telsa's Model 3 (TSLA) led the charge. The OFV says that 5,315 Model 3 sedans were registered in March, setting a record for sales of a single car model in a single month.

There were also 3,469 hybrid passenger cars sold last month -- a 10% drop from March 2018.

The number of gas and diesel vehicle sales dropped to a record low.

Norway has implemented a number of incentives to encourage people to buy electric cars, according to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association. Zero-emission cars don't pay the 25% Value Added Tax (VAT) and are exempt from Norway's carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and weight taxes imposed on gas and diesel vehicles. They also get discounts on parking, toll roads and ferries.

In 2018, Norway was the 10th largest market, by dollar amount for US vehicle exports, according to the International Trade Association, with more than $821 million in sales.

The Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association projects that electric vehicles will make up about 50% of the country's car sales in 2019.

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