Norway is on track to become the first country to go completely electric

Norway is the world leader when it comes to electric cars, accounting for nine out of 10 new vehicles sold in the country last year. Can other countries learn from this?

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

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

“We think it is wrong to advise a customer who comes here today to buy an ICE (internal combustion engine) car, because the future is electric,” says chief executive Ulf Tore Heckenby as he walks around the cars on display. “Long range, high charging speed. Hard to go back.”

On the streets of Norway’s capital Oslo, battery-powered cars are nothing new, they are common. 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 on the verge of becoming the first country to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel cars.

Last year, electric cars outnumbered petrol-powered cars on Norway’s roads For the first time. When diesel vehicles are included, the number of electric cars on Norway’s roads drops to about a third.

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

Sales of fully electric cars were up 98% in some months, as purchases of new petrol or diesel cars almost dried up.

In contrast, electric cars were made in Britain only 20% Number of new car registrations in 2024. However this was a record high, and more than 16.5% in 2023.

This figure was in America only 8% Last year, up 7.6%.

Norway is undoubtedly an EV pioneer, but this electric revolution has been three decades in the making.

“It started way back in the early 1990s,” says Christina Boo, secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association, when she took me for a ride around Oslo in an electric minivan.

“Gradually, cars with petrol and diesel engines are being taxed more, making them more expensive to buy, while electric cars have been exempted from taxes.”

Support for electric vehicles was first introduced to help two Norwegian manufacturers of early EVs, Buddy (formerly Kvett) and TH!nk City. Although they went out of business, the incentive for green vehicles remained.

“It is our goal to see that choosing zero emissions is always a good and viable option,” says Norway’s Deputy Transport Minister, Cecilie Knibb Kroglund.

Even though it is a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims to sell all new cars as “zero emissions” starting in 2025. A non-binding target was set in 2017, and that milestone is now within reach.

“We are getting closer to the goal and I think we will reach that goal,” Kroglund says. “I think we’ve already made the transition to passenger cars.”

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

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

This was followed by a series of amenities such as free parking, discounted road tolls and access to bus lanes.

By comparison, the EU plans to ban the sale of new fossil-fuel cars by 2035, and Britain’s current government wants Ban their sale in 2030.

The sale of petrol and diesel cars is still allowed in Norway. But very few people like to buy them.

For many locals like Stella Fayne, who bought her first EV 15 months ago, going electric made economic sense.

“With all the incentives we have in Norway, with no tax on EVs, it was value for money for us,” he says, plugging his car in at a charging station in the capital.

“In the cold, the range goes down maybe 20%, but still, with the extensive charging network we have in Norway, it’s not really a big issue,” says Mr Fenn. “You just have to change your mindset and charge when you can, not when you need to.”

Another driver, Merete Egesbo, says that in 2014 she was one of the first people to buy a Tesla in Norway. “I really wanted a car that didn’t pollute. This allowed me to drive with a better conscience.”

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

It is compared to 73,699 in UK – A country 12 times larger in terms of population.

This means that, per 100,000 people, Norway has 447 chargers while the UK has just 89, 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 make up a combined 10% of the market, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.

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

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

He believes that Norwegians are no more environmentally conscious than people elsewhere. “I don’t think green mentality has anything 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 a very wealthy country and, due to its huge oil and gas exports, has sovereign wealth funds worth more than $1.7tn (£1.3tn). This means it can more easily afford large infrastructure-building projects, and can 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 hydroelectricity, which is responsible for 88% of its production capacity.

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