In Norway's new car market in August, the share of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) jumped to 98.7 percent, a record high for any month. It suggests the market is entering a stage where internal-combustion cars have effectively disappeared from new sales.

On Sept. 1 (local time), EV news outlet InsideEVs and the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) showed that newly registered passenger cars last month totalled 13,451, down 3.4 percent from a year earlier. The EV share rose to 98.7 percent from 96.9 percent in August last year. The year-to-date EV share also reached 97.8 percent.

By brand, Volkswagen ranked first with 1,457 units, a 10.8 percent share. Toyota followed with 1,328, while BMW, Volvo and China's Xpeng placed third to fifth, respectively. The combined share of Xpeng and BYD expanded to 11.4 percent from 4.9 percent a year earlier, more than doubling.

Tesla slipped to seventh with 627 units. That was down 79.2 percent from August last year. On a year-to-date basis, however, it still ranks first among brands. Toyota's year-to-date registrations rose 46.4 percent, while Tesla's fell 11 percent, narrowing the gap between them to 3,740 units from 9,173 at the same point last year.

By model, the Volkswagen ID.4 led with 710 registrations, followed by the Toyota bZ4X and the BMW iX3. The Tesla Model 3 stayed in seventh with 374.

Norway's shift to electric vehicles is already in its final stage. EVs accounted for 95.9 percent of all new cars last year. In August, electric vans also posted a 44.9 percent share, rising to 53.1 percent year to date. OFV said that with the new car market effectively fully electrified, further emissions cuts depend on how quickly older gasoline and diesel vehicles already on the road are replaced.