Norwegians Replaced A Fifth Of Their Cars With All-Electric Ones

Before 2025, a third of the entire car fleet is expected to be zero-emission.

2021 BYD Tang in Norway

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Jan 1, 2023 at 2:22pm ET

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Norway is at the forefront of electrification and just achieved another milestone on its road towards zero-emission transportation.

According to Bloomberg, already 20 percent (or one in five) passenger cars in the country are all-electric. In Norwegian capital Oslo, the share of battery-electric cars (BEV) is even higher at over 33 percent.

That's an amazing result as other countries will require at least several years to achieve such a level. There are still not that many countries where the share of new BEVs is above 20 percent, not even talking about the BEV fleet share. In Norway, the vast majority of new car sales are BEVs.

In the case of Norway, several factors must be considered to understand why the process progressed so quickly. First of all, Norway is a wealthy country. Secondly, Norwegians are very conscious of environmental topics. And finally, the country quickly applied a full package of incentives for all-electric cars, including zero percent VAT tax. Because internal combustion engine cars are significantly taxed, and have been for a long time, BEVs were absolutely unbeatable.

The article says that according to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, within less than two years from now (so before 2025), the share of BEVs in Norway will increase to 30%. For reference, the move from 10% to 20% took three years.

On the other hand, there are areas in the country where adoption of electric cars is much slower. For example, in Finnmark county in northern Norway, the share of BEVs out of the total fleet is 4.7%. It could be related to a more challenging (colder) environment, less dense charging infrastructure or maybe even the lower purchasing power of customers, compared to the capital (which usually is the wealthiest place in a country and more new cars are sold in general).

Tesla Model Y (Midnight Cherry Red)

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This year, almost 90% of passenger cars sold in Norway are rechargeable. After the first 11 months of the year, 118,525 new plug-ins were registered, which is almost 88% of the total (78.3% BEVs and 9.6% PHEVs). Most recently, the Tesla Model Y set the new all-time record of annual sales for any car model in Norway.

It's expected that in 2025 the country only new zero-emission cars to be sold in Norway, which actually means that even plug-in hybrids will gradually disappear from showrooms soon. Several more years down the road and the aging internal combustion engine fleet, (including non-rechargeable hybrids and plug-in hybrids) might be significantly reduced.

More sales reports

Estimated Tesla Order Backlog Decreased To Just 163,000 As Of Dec 8

BYD Sold Almost 230,000 Plug-In Cars In November 2022

Source: Bloomberg

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