Thanks to government incentives, electric cars have increased in Oslo and throughout Norway (Jonathan NACKSTRAND/AFP/AFP)
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Electric cars will occupy 89% of the Norwegian market by 2024
Electric vehicles accounted for 89% of new vehicles sold in Norway last year, according to a report released on Thursday, bringing the country closer to achieving its goal of becoming fully electric by 2025.
“We need only 10% more to reach the target for 2025,” the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) said in a statement.
Of the 128,691 new car registrations last year, 114,400 were electric, the highest share of any major national car market and above the 82% share in 2023.
Despite being a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims for all new cars sold to be “zero emission” from 2025, which is 10 years earlier than the target set by the European Union, of which Norway is not a member.
In 2012, electric cars accounted for just 2.8% of sales, but since then, they have exploded thanks to various incentives.
Electric cars have been exempt from many taxes, which has made them competitive with heavily taxed internal combustion cars. They have also benefited from toll exemptions, free parking in public parking lots, and the use of public transport traffic lanes.
Although some incentives and tax exemptions have been reduced over the years, electric cars have become commonplace.
“It is crucial to maintain the incentives that favor the purchase of electric cars if the government and parliament want to achieve the goal they have set,” said Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of OFV, in a press release.
Tesla is the leading electric car company in Norway, with 19% of the market, followed by Volkswagen, Toyota, Volvo, and BMW.
“In 2025, it will be interesting to see whether the new Chinese brands and models manage to strengthen their position among buyers,” said Thorsen.
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