In Norway, the number of electric cars on the roads has exceeded the number of gasoline cars. According to the Norwegian Road Federation (NRF), of the 2.8 million registered private cars, 754,303 are fully electric, while 753,905 are petrol-powered. It is reported that the country plans to completely abandon the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines by 2025.
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Norway, with a population of 5.5 million, has set an ambitious goal of becoming the first region in the world to completely phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. Confidence in implementing this plan was achieved thanks to the widespread introduction of tax breaks and other incentives for buyers of electric cars, financed in large part by revenues from the oil and gas industries. Interestingly, in the early days of the green movement, Norwegian environmental activists even recruited the popular music group A-ha to raise awareness of the benefits of electric cars.
The transition to clean technologies is supported by a sovereign wealth fund of more than US$1.7 trillion, which serves as a cushion in case the country’s oil reserves run out. This fund is also called a “rainy day pension fund” and includes a sales tax exemption for electric vehicle buyers.
«Despite the progress made, Norway still has room for improvement,” writes the BBC. Moreover, it cannot be said that diesel cars remain in the minority – there are almost a million of them. However, their sales are falling rapidly, notes the Norwegian Road Federation. Nine out of ten new cars sold in Norway are electric vehicles, according to industry data.
This popularity of electric cars is explained by active support from the authorities. In particular, in many cities in Norway, electric cars can park for free, and their owners are exempt from paying city fees. It is noteworthy that while in other countries electric car drivers complain about the lack of charging stations, in Norway free chargers are available in all cities – there are 2,000 of them in Oslo alone.