Norway’s first to go all-electric is on track.

Norway is the world leader when it comes to taking up electric cars, buying 9 out of 10 new vehicles sold in the country last year. Can other nations learn from this?

Oslo-based car dealership Harald A Møller has been importing Volkswagens for more than 75 years, but said goodbye to fossil fuel cars as early as 2024.

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

“We think it is wrong to advise any customer who comes here today to buy ICE. [internal combustion engine] The car, because the future is electric,” says chief executive Ulf Tor Hackenby, as he walks around the cars on display. It’s hard to go back.”

Battery-powered cars are not new, they are the norm on the streets of Oslo, the capital of Norway. Take a look around and you’ll soon notice that almost every other car has an “E” for “electric” on its license plate.

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has adopted EVs faster than any other country, and is close to becoming the first to phase out sales of new fossil fuel cars.

Last year, electric cars outnumbered petrol-powered cars on Norway’s roads. The first time When diesel vehicles are included, electric cars account for about a third on Norwegian roads.

And last year, 88.9% of new cars were sold in the country EVs were, According to data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), there will be an increase of 82.4% in 2023.

In some months, sales of all-electric cars were as high as 98 percent, as purchases of new gasoline or diesel cars almost disappeared.

By contrast, electric cars are made in the UK. only 20% New car registrations in 2024. It was a record high, though, and was up from 16.5% in 2023.

In America, the figure was only 8% Last year, up from 7.6 percent.

Norway is undoubtedly an EV pioneer, but three decades have passed since the electric revolution.

“It started in the early 1990s, when she took me for a drive around Oslo in an electric minivan,” says Kristina Bo, secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association.

“Taxing cars with petrol and diesel engines has become too expensive, while electric cars have been exempted.”

Support for electric vehicles was first introduced to support two early Norwegian EV manufacturers, Buddy (formerly Cavite) and TH!NK City. While they went out of business, incentives for green vehicles remained.

“Our goal is to see that it is always a good and viable choice, to choose zero emissions,” says Norway’s Deputy Transport Minister Cecile Naib Kruglund.

Although it is a major producer of oil and gas, Norway aims to make all new cars sold “zero emissions” starting sometime in 2025. A non-binding target was set in 2017, and this milestone is now within reach.

“We’re on target, and I think we’re going to hit that target,” Kroglund added. “I think we’ve already made the transition for passenger cars.”

She explains that the key to Norway’s success is long-term and predictable policies.

Instead of banning combustion engine vehicles, the government has pushed for consumer choice. In addition to penalizing fossil fuel vehicles with higher taxes and registration fees, VAT and import duties were abolished for low-emission cars.

A series of perks, such as free parking, discounted road tolls and bus lane access, followed.

In contrast, the EU plans to ban the sale of new fossil fuel cars by 2035, and the current UK government wants to. 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 makes economic sense.

“With all the incentives we have in Norway, no tax on EVs, that was very important for us in terms of money,” he says, plugging in his car at a charging station in the capital.

“In the winter, the range is maybe 20% less, but still, with the extensive charging network we have here in Norway, it’s not really a big problem. is,” added Mr Fine. “You just have to change your mindset and charge when you can, not when you have to.”

Another driver, Merete Eggesbø, says that in 2014 she was one of the first to own a Tesla in Norway. “I really wanted a car that didn’t pollute. It gave me a better driving conscience.”

Many fuel pumps at Norwegian petrol stations have been replaced by fast charging points, and there are now more than 27,000 public chargers across Norway.

Compares with it. 73,699 in the UK – A country 12 times larger in terms of population.

This means that, per 100,000 people, there are 447 chargers in Norway compared to just 89 in the UK. According to a recent report.

Tesla, VW and Toyota were Norway’s best-selling EV brands last year. Meanwhile, Chinese-owned marques – such as MG, BYD, Polestar and XPeng – now account for 10% of the overall market, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.

Norway, unlike the US and EU, has not imposed tariffs on Chinese EV imports.

“There’s really no reason why other countries can’t copy Norway,” Ms Bo says. However, she adds, “it’s all about doing it in a way that works in every country or market”.

He believes that Norwegians are no more environmentally conscious than people elsewhere. “I don’t think green mentality has much to do with it. It has to do with strong policies, and people slowly realizing that driving an electric car is possible.”

Yet Norway is also a very wealthy country, with a sovereign wealth fund worth more than $1.7tn (£1.3tn), thanks to its large oil and gas exports. This means it can easily afford large infrastructure projects, and absorb the loss of tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel cars and their fuel.

The county also has an abundance of renewable hydropower, which is why. 88 percent of its productivity.

“A third of cars are now electric, and that will pass 50 percent in a few years,” says Kjell Werner Johansson from the Norwegian Center for Transport Research. “I think the government accepts that there will still be a few new petrol or hybrid cars on the market, but I don’t know anyone who wants to buy a diesel car these days.”