Norwegian drivers have been opting for electric vehicles at a truly staggering rate, prompting a high-profile prediction from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Musk retweeted a post by X user Alexander Kristensen (@LinkN01) highlighting the most recent EV sales figures out of Norway.
As goes Norway, so goes the rest of the world.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2025
Combustion engine cars will be like the steam engine – quaint, but primitive. https://t.co/yOuduv8YWK
"So, in Norway, 97% of all cars sold in June were EV. Let that sink in," Kristensen wrote.
One day prior, sustainable transportation news site Mobility Portal reported that in the month of June, 96.9% — rounded up by a tenth of a percent in Kristensen's post — of new car registrations in Norway were for fully electric vehicles.
A total of 18,376 cars were registered in Norway in June, 17,799 of which were EVs. Those figures are part of a sustained trend; according to Reuters, 89% of Norwegian car buyers decided to make their next car an EV in 2024 alone, up from 82% in 2023.
Tesla has experienced a rough sales year in 2025, particularly in Europe. In June, however, the automaker's Model Y accounted for 27.2% of new EV registrations in Norway, per Mobility Portal.
British green tech company GridServe examined why Norway leads other countries in the adoption of EVs, attributing it largely to a combination of long-term policies encouraging the switch, driver incentives, clean energy infrastructure, and overall massive cost savings.
That analysis mentioned that 88% of Norway's grid is sustainably powered by hydroelectricity, a form of clean energy. Renewable energy sources can drastically bring down the already-low costs to own an EV, in part by reducing drivers' dependence on public charging stations.
While hydroelectricity is in limited use in the United States, making up 10% of the energy mix in 2023, solar panels remain a readily available alternative for homeowners. EnergySage offers an array of quotes from vetted local installers, and the service can save solar customers up to $10,000 on new installations.
Musk seemed confident that Norway's EV adoption rates were a bellwether for the planet.
"As goes Norway, so goes the rest of the world," he remarked. "Combustion engine cars will be like the steam engine — quaint, but primitive."
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