OSLO: According to registration data released Thursday, nine out of 10 new cars sold in Norway last year were battery-only, putting the nation on track to meet its goal of only having electric vehicles on the road by 2025.
According to data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), the percentage of new automobiles sold that were fully electric increased from 82.4 percent in 2023 to 88.9 percent in 2024. Tesla was the best-selling brand, followed by Toyota and Volkswagen. Currently, about 10% of new car sales are Chinese EVs.
According to Christina Bu, the leader of the Norwegian EV association, “Norway will be the first country in the world to pretty much erase petrol and diesel engine cars from the new car market.”
The carrot-and-stick method
producing oil Although some charges were reinstated in 2023, Norway penalizes gasoline and diesel vehicles with high taxes while exempting EVs from import and value-added taxes to make them more appealing. According to analysts, the reason the program has been successful is that governments of all political stripes have upheld it consistently over time.
“We frequently observe in other nations that someone implements tax breaks or incentives and then withdraws them again,” Bu stated. The absence of an automaker lobby in Norway is also beneficial.
“We are not a nation that produces automobiles. Therefore, it was easy to impose hefty car taxes in the past,” Ulf Tore Hekneby, the head of Harald A. Moeller, Norway’s largest auto importer, stated.
According to Bu, it was also essential to have incentives rather than outright ban gasoline and diesel vehicles. People would have been upset about that. “People dislike having their actions dictated to them,” she remarked.
By 2035, the European Union plans to outlaw the sale of automobiles that release carbon dioxide, although it may permit the sale of vehicles that use fuels derived from CO2 that has been captured.
Due to Norway’s policies, completely electric vehicles surpassed only gasoline-powered vehicles on Norwegian roads last year. According to data from the Public Road Administration, as of December, they made up almost 28 percent of all cars driven in the Nordic nation.
Deputy Transport Minister Cecilie Knibe Kroglund stated, “That’s the big lesson: put together a broad package (of incentives) and make it predictable for (the) long-term.”Effects
Although almost all new car buyers in Norway have switched to electric vehicles, there are still some exceptions. According to Hekneby, “since many tourists are unfamiliar with EVs, rental companies are the main buyers of ICE (internal combustion engine) cars in Norway.”
However, other industries must adjust to the growing number of EVs on Norwegian roads. Fast electric chargers are gradually replacing gasoline pumps at gas stations.
According to Anders Kleve Svela, a senior manager at Circle K, the biggest fuel store in Norway, “we will have at least as many charging stalls as we have fuel pumps within the next three years.”
“Over 50% of all automobiles in Norway will be electric in just a few years. In light of that, we must expand our charging park,” he continued. Because of the cold, drivers may have to wait a little longer to charge their EVs during the winter months.
As she charged her car at a Circle K station outside Oslo, 28-year-old in-home caregiver Desire Andresen remarked, “There are times when I miss that I can just pump it full and drive off five minutes later.”
However, I feel more at ease driving an electric vehicle. In addition to being better for the environment, diesel cars emit a lot of odors.
