WASHINGTON - Norwegians are turning away from diesel vehicles at a fast clip in favor of electric models, the research firm Rystad Energy reported this week.

Over the past six years, sales of diesel vehicles there have dropped 95 percent. At the same time more than one out of every two vehicles sold this year is fully or partially electric powered.

"High-range battery electric cars have reduced the sales of high-end diesel vehicles, primarily SUVs and sedans, which are also the most energy-consuming private vehicles on the market," said Artyom Tchen, a senior analyst at Oslo-based Rystad.

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Norway has some of the most ambitious clean energy targets in the world, declaring that by 2025 all new vehicles sold there will be hydrogen or electric models.

Even with the fast uptick in electric vehicle sales, sales of gasoline and diesel fuels have held relatively steady in Norway, Rystad said in its report.

Photo: Lise Aserud, SUB / Associated Press

"The link between higher EV penetration and transportation fuel oil demand is not significantly correlated in Norway just yet," the report read.