German automaker Volkswagen has predicted that electric vehicles will make up around 90% of its car sales in Norway, the world’s leading EV market, as early as next year, thanks to the Nordic nation’s stable and ongoing policy support.
The bullish forecast was offered on Wednesday by Harald A. Moeller, the Norwegian importer of Volkswagen cars, alongside a further prediction that VW EVs would completely replace its diesel and petrol car offerings in Norway by 2023.
The comments follow the news last week that Volkswagen’s newly launched ID.3 had become the top selling EV in Norway, where total electric vehicle sales had broken another market milestone, passing the 60% market share of total September auto sales.
As The Driven reported here, the Volkswagen ID.3 sells in Norway for NOK 350,000 ($A52,340 converted) for the base model, or NOK 400,000 ($A59,820 converted) for the first edition “Plus” option, and was released on the Norwegian market on August 28.
With a 62 kilowatt hour battery it offers 420km driving range (WLTP). Volkswagen says it will also offer an 82 kilowatt hour battery down the track which would be rated for 550km driving range (WLTP) from 2021.
As well as the ID.3, the Volkswagen e-Golf is also big in Norway, as the second most common car on the Norwegian roads after the Nissan Leaf – there are almost 50,000 of them.
Volkwagen’s confidence that things can only get better for its electric car sales in Norway stems from the release of the government’s 2021 fiscal spending plan on Wednesday, which extended the country’s policy of zero tax on fully electric cars.
“This allows us to be confident in saying we can hit 90% electric car sales next year,” said Harald A. Moeller, as quoted in Reuters.
“Customers will have access to an even greater selection of electric cars in most segments in 2021.”
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.