Norway is on the cusp of bidding farewell to internal combustion vehicles forever now that the automotive transition in the country has reached highway speeds.
Tax incentives and other perks like free parking, a diverse market of foreign and EU-made vehicles, and a vast charging network have steered almost all of the country’s national consumption towards electric vehicles.
Setting a non-legislative and vague goal of phasing out fossil fuel cars back in 2017, the recent market data suggests that the goal is now well within reach for the Arctic country of 5.5 million.
Despite the cold temperatures regularly draining batteries, consumers speaking with the BBC said range and charging weren’t major struggles given a simple change of mindset: from charging when you need it to charging when you can.
They also said there’s no reason why the Norwegian model couldn’t be adopted by other countries, as there’s not really an overly ‘green’ mindset in the purchasing decisions: it’s more about ensuring EVs are available, affordable, and sensible.
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The best-selling EVs in the country are Teslas, followed by models from VW and Toyota. Unlike the US and EU countries, Norway hasn’t imposed tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, and a variety of Chinese makes enjoy a 10% share of Norway’s market which saw EVs account for 88.9% of new cars sold in the country last year, up from 82.4% in 2023.
A third of all registered cars on the road in the country today are electric if one includes diesel. Compared to just gasoline-powered cars, the split is closer to 50-50.
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Norway has more proven gas and petroleum reserves than any other European nation. Like many of the world’s largest oil and natural gas exporters, they enjoy a massive sovereign wealth fund totaling over $1.7 trillion which allows them, the BBC reports, to shrug off the loss of tax revenue from EVs most of which are exempt from import and property taxes.
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