In Norway, Electric and Hybrid Cars Outsell Conventional Models<br />Although electric vehicles make up a just small portion of the global market now, automakers — including those, like Tesla,<br />that produce only electric models, and giants like Volkswagen — have bet billions of dollars that such vehicles will soon be as cheap and ubiquitous as conventional cars.<br />“This is good for both road safety and the environment.”<br />Sales of electric cars could have been even higher, according to Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association,<br />but some buyers continued to hold out for newer models like Tesla’s Model 3.<br />Sales of electric and hybrid cars in Norway outpaced those running on fossil fuels last year, cementing<br />the country’s position as a global leader in the push to restrict vehicle emissions.<br />About 52 percent of the new cars sold in the country last year ran on new forms of fuel,<br />according the data released on Thursday by Norway’s Road Traffic Advisory Board, OFV.<br />But the country offers generous incentives that make electric cars cheaper to buy, and provides additional benefits once the vehicles are on the road.<br />As China tries to improve air quality and dominate new vehicle technology, the government<br />there wants one in five cars sold to run on alternative fuels by 2025.<br />Norway, which wants to phase out diesel and gasoline cars by 2025, offers a counterexample.
