August sales of electric vehicles in Norway set a world record

New statistics show that electric vehicle sales in Norway accounted for 94 percent of the market in August, setting a new world record, but sales in the rest of Europe stagnated.

The Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) said electric vehicle sales in Norway accounted for 94.3 percent of new car registrations, driven by the Tesla Model Y, the next-generation Hyundai's Kona and Nissan Leaf. Norwegian car owners bought 10,480 new electric vehicles in August, bringing the number of electric vehicles sold so far this year to 68,435.

OFV Director General Oyvind Solberg Thorsen said in a statement: "No country in the world comes close to Norway in the electric car race... If this trend continues, we will soon be able to achieve the goal of 100 percent zero-emission vehicles by 2025."

But elsewhere in Europe, where high prices and a lack of infrastructure have hampered sales of electric vehicles, hybrid models have grown.

According to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, electric vehicles accounted for 12.1 percent of new car sales in the EU in July, compared with 33.4 percent for gasoline cars, 32 percent for hybrids and 12.6 percent for diesel cars.