Norway on track to be first to go all-electric

Norway is a world leader in the adoption of electric cars, which last year accounted for nine out of 10 new cars sold in the country. Can other countries learn from it?

For more than 75 years, the Oslo-based car dealership Harald A Møller has been delivering Volkswagens, but at the beginning of 2024 it will say goodbye to petrol cars.

Now all passenger cars for sale in its showroom are electric vehicles (EV).

“We feel that it is wrong to advise the customer who came here today to buy ICE [internal combustion engine] car, because the future is electric, “said the CEO of Ulf Tore Hekneby, as he walked around the vehicles on display. “Longer runs, faster. It’s hard to come back.”

On the streets of Norway’s capital, Oslo, battery-powered cars are not new, they’re the norm. Look around and you’ll soon notice that almost every car has an “E” for “electric” on its license plate.

The Nordic country of 5.5 million people has adopted EVs faster than any other country, and is about to become the first to phase out sales of new gasoline vehicles.

Last year, the number of electric cars on Norway’s roads surpassed that of gasoline-powered cars. for the first time. When diesel vehicles are included, electric vehicles make up about a third of all on Norwegian roads.

And 88.9% of new cars sold in the country last year were EVs, from 82.4% in 2023, data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) showed.

In some months the sales of electric cars increased to 98%, as new petrol or diesel cars were almost sold out.

In contrast, in the UK electric cars are produced Only 20% of new car registrations in 2024. Although this was a historical figure, and from 16.5% in 2023.

In the US, the number was Only 8% last year, from 7.6%.

Norway is undoubtedly an EV pioneer, but this electric revolution has been going on for three decades.

“It started already in the early 1990s,” says Christina Bu, general secretary of the Norwegian EV Association, as she takes me around Oslo in an electric minivan.

“Little by little, petrol and diesel cars will gradually increase, so they will become more expensive to buy, while electric cars will not be taxed.”

The electric vehicle subsidy was first introduced to support two Norwegian early EV manufacturers, Buddy (formerly Kewet) and TH!NK City. While they went out of business, the green car incentives remained.

“It is our aim to see that it is always a good and possible choice, to choose the output,” said the Deputy Minister of Transport in Norway, Cecilie Knibe Kroglund.

Despite being an oil and gas producer, Norway wants all new cars sold to be “zero emission”, starting sometime in 2025. The zero-emission goal was set back in 2017, and the current trend is almost there.

“We’re closing in on what we want, and I think we’re going to achieve that goal,” adds Kroglund. “I think we’ve already made the transition to passenger cars.”

The key to Norway’s success has been long-term and predictable policies, he explains.

Instead of banning gas-powered cars, the government has driven consumer choice. In addition to punishing fuel-efficient cars with higher taxes and registration fees, VAT and import duties were removed from cheaper cars.

A number of features, such as free parking, low fares and access to bus routes, are then followed.

In comparison, the European Union is planning to ban the sale of new petrol cars by 2035, and the UK government wants ban their sale in 2030.

The sale of petrol and diesel cars is still allowed in Norway. But few are choosing to buy them.

For many locals, like Ståle Fyen, who bought his first EV 15 months ago, going electric made money.

“It’s all the incentives we have in Norway, with no taxes on EVs, that was very important to us strategically,” he says as he plugs his car into a charging station in the capital.

“In winter, the quality is probably 20% shorter, but with the extensive network we have here in Norway, it’s not a big problem,” Fyen adds. “You have to change your mind and pay when you can, not when you need to.”

Another driver, Merete Eggesbø, says that back in 2014 he was one of the first people in Norway to own a Tesla. “I really wanted a clean car. It gave me a conscience to drive well.”

At Norwegian gas stations, most of the gas pumps have been replaced by fast car washes, and there are more than 27,000 charging stations across Norway.

This is equivalent to 73,699 in the UK – the 12th largest country in terms of population.

This means that, per 100,000 people, Norway has 447 chargers while the UK only has 89. according to a recent report.

Tesla, VW and Toyota, were the best-selling EVs in Norway last year. Meanwhile, Chinese marques – such as MG, BYD, Polestar and XPeng – now make up 10% of the market, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.

Norway, unlike the US and the EU, has not set commercial prices for Chinese EVs.

Mr Bu says “there is no reason why other countries cannot emulate Norway”. However, he adds that “it’s all about doing it in a way that will work in any country or market”.

Norwegians are less environmentally friendly than other people, they think. “I don’t think green ideas have much. It’s about strong policies, and people are slowly understanding that driving an electric car is possible.”

However, Norway is a very rich country, which, thanks to its large oil and gas exports, has a sovereign wealth fund of more than $1.7tn (£1.3tn). This means that it can afford major infrastructure projects, and absorb the loss of tax due to the sale of petrol and diesel cars and their fuel.

The area also has a lot of hydroelectricity, which accounts for it 88% of its production capacity.

Kjell Werner Johansen from the Norwegian Center for Transport Research said: “One in three cars is electric, and it will exceed 50 percent in a few years. “I think the government accepts that new petrol or hybrid cars will remain on the market, but I don’t know anyone who wants to buy a diesel car these days.”