Photo: VW Norway
The way Norway handled the switch to electric vehicles should be turned into a case study for other countries. Well, maybe not the US since the geographical differences are too great, but at least every other European country should be paying attention.
Norway is not a big market, so its large-scale impact is limited to non-existent. What it's very good at, though, is to show how the public can be persuaded to adopt a change that, no matter what some people say, can be very helpful to the environment and the health of everyone. Of course, the fact Norway is one of the countries with the tiniest reliance of burning fossil fuels for energy counts toward the success of the Scandinavian model.
EVs have been at the top of registration charts there for a while - to the point where the only news-worthy event would be a return to the top for the internal combustion engine. That looks more unlikely with every passing day, and the launch of the Volkswagen ID.3 proved to be yet another nail in the ICE's coffin.
People are looking at the Norwegian market for clues on how well the new electric VW is going to fare in Europe, and it looks like the first signs could spark a few parties in some Wolfsburg offices. With the first deliveries starting just earlier this month, the ID.3 has already become Norway's bestselling model in September with over 900 units sold so far (according to eu-evs.com).
In the time it took me to write this article, 20 more brand-new ID.3 received their Norwegian plates, and, who knows, perhaps a few more got them while you were reading. Coming up behind is the Tesla Model 3 with a healthy figure of 625 units sold, but unlike the Volkswagen ID.3, it doesn't seem to grow by the minute.
In fact, the Tesla should rather worry about what's going on below it the table because the third spot is taken by another one of Europe's favorites: the Polestar 2 with 548 units. The Volvo-affiliated EV has been receiving rave reviews lately despite being down on range and power but up on price compared to the Model 3, which might have something to do with its success.
The success of the ID.3 in Norway shouldn't really surprise anyone. After all, the much inferior e-Golf was the country's best-selling EV for a long time, and even now when VW stopped making it, there are still 228 new registrations from the start of this month (4,635 all year). With only three full months left in this year, the ID.3 can't hope to reach the first place - currently taken by Audi's e-tron with 6,605 units - but, at this rate, a top-three spot is a perfectly reasonable expectation.
EVs have been at the top of registration charts there for a while - to the point where the only news-worthy event would be a return to the top for the internal combustion engine. That looks more unlikely with every passing day, and the launch of the Volkswagen ID.3 proved to be yet another nail in the ICE's coffin.
People are looking at the Norwegian market for clues on how well the new electric VW is going to fare in Europe, and it looks like the first signs could spark a few parties in some Wolfsburg offices. With the first deliveries starting just earlier this month, the ID.3 has already become Norway's bestselling model in September with over 900 units sold so far (according to eu-evs.com).
In the time it took me to write this article, 20 more brand-new ID.3 received their Norwegian plates, and, who knows, perhaps a few more got them while you were reading. Coming up behind is the Tesla Model 3 with a healthy figure of 625 units sold, but unlike the Volkswagen ID.3, it doesn't seem to grow by the minute.
In fact, the Tesla should rather worry about what's going on below it the table because the third spot is taken by another one of Europe's favorites: the Polestar 2 with 548 units. The Volvo-affiliated EV has been receiving rave reviews lately despite being down on range and power but up on price compared to the Model 3, which might have something to do with its success.
The success of the ID.3 in Norway shouldn't really surprise anyone. After all, the much inferior e-Golf was the country's best-selling EV for a long time, and even now when VW stopped making it, there are still 228 new registrations from the start of this month (4,635 all year). With only three full months left in this year, the ID.3 can't hope to reach the first place - currently taken by Audi's e-tron with 6,605 units - but, at this rate, a top-three spot is a perfectly reasonable expectation.
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