Electric car sales in Norway are booming right now. The Scandinavian country saw electric vehicles account for an impressive 61.5 percent of its auto sales in the month of September. During this period the best-selling electric car in Norway was Volkswagen’s ID.3 family hatchback, which had 1,974 sales.
The second best-selling electric car in the country was Tesla’s Model S with 1,116 units sold, with Swedish car manufacturer Polestar in third selling 928 of their Polestar 2. MG’s ZS EV, which offers great value (£25,495 after grants) for a sports utility vehicle (SUV), came in fourth with 672 sales. Closing out the top five of Norway’s electric car sales was Audi’s classy E-Tron SUV with 542.
The popularity of the ID.3 comes partly down to its looks but the performance and options available are what makes it a winner. This curvy five-door family-sized hatchback is available with three battery options 45 kWh, 58 kWh or 77 kWh. The largest battery 77 kWh sized model offers an impressive 340-mile (550) range from a full charge, while the 58 kWh provides 260 miles (420km) and the 45kWh delivers 205 miles (330km).
Fast chargers can also be used when out and about in the ID.3, and the middle 58 kWh battery model can recharge to a range of around 260 miles (km) in 30 minutes in quick charge mode with a 100 kW fast charger. This hatchback is also nimble little car that’s a solid performer and the First Edition model can drive from 0-62mph (0-100kph) in 7.3 seconds.
Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, said: “This is historic. The electric car policy now works so well that six out of ten customers choose an electric car when they buy a new car. It is fun that the newcomer ID.3 tops new car sales, and it will be exciting to see if this will be Volkswagen’s new leading passenger car,”