Almost 60 per cent of all new cars sold in Norway in March were fully electric, the Norwegian Road Federation (NRF) says, a global record as the country seeks to end fossil-fuelled vehicle sales by 2025.
Exempting battery engines from taxes imposed on diesel and petrol cars has upended Norway's auto market, elevating brands like Tesla and Nissan, with its Leaf model, while hurting sales of Toyota, Daimler and others.
In 2018, Norway's fully electric car sales rose to a record 31.2 per cent market share from 20.8 per cent in 2017, far ahead of any other nation.
The surge of electric cars to a 58.4 per cent market share in March came as Tesla ramped up delivery of its mid-sized Model 3, which retails from 442,000 crowns ($US51,400), and Audi began deliveries of its own models.
The sales figures consolidate Norway's global lead in electric car sales per capita, part of an attempt by Western Europe's biggest producer of oil and gas to transform to a greener economy.
While the numbers will vary from month to month, half of all cars sold in 2019 in Norway will probably be fully electric, the head of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association (NEV) said.
Nissan's Leaf electric car was the top-selling car in Norway last year, while in March, the Tesla Model 3 was the biggest seller.
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