Norway is the country with the highest rate of electric cars, reaching an impressive 54% in 2021. The nordic country has become the first country to sell more electric cars than traditional cars. A curious fact, if we consider that Norways is also a big Oil producer, with oil production increasing by 20% in 2020, reaching 214 million Sm³…
But why is this happening?
Mainly thanks to tax exemptions promoted by the Government, compared to taxes levied on combustion engines. The policy has had a cost of 1900M euro, only in 2020, but it has proven efficient to drive Norwegians towards electric cars.
Norway intends to completely stop selling combustion cars by 2025.
Despite being the first oil producer in Western Europe and depending on the extraction of crude oil to pay for the welfare state, Norway has also been the first European country to set the goal of 2025 for the ban on the sale of gasoline or diesel cars .
With its political measures to promote the transition, sales of electric cars went from 1% in 2010 to exceed the 50% bar at the start of 2020. In the last decade, sales of diesel cars fell from 75% to 8%.
“Our forecast is to surpass 65% of the market this year,” Christina Bu, told Reuters, in front of the Norwegian Association of Electric Vehicles. “If we succeed, the goal of selling only zero-emission cars by 2025 will be within reach.”
The most wanted cars:
In 2020, Audi E-tron has been the most sold E-Car (which speaks well of Norwegian economy, it is not a cheap car, it costs about 47.000 euros with the tax exemptions). In second place comes Tesla Model 3, in third place VW ID.3 and in fourth place the Nissan Leaf.
Tesla’s mid-sized sports utility vehicle, the Model Y, is due to reach the Norwegian market this year, as are the first electric SUVs from Ford, BMW and Volkswagen.
And the future?
Electric car has come to stay in Norway, no doubt about that. However, analysts warn that the increase in demand in the rest of Europe may, however, slow down the Norwegian “miracle”, which in any case has served to demonstrate how quickly the jump to electric mobility with renewable sources can be completed (the Nordic country gets most of its supply from hydropower).
Some electric models:
