Norway Nears Goal to Sell only Electric New Cars

01Norway is very close to meeting its goal of selling only fully electric new vehicles starting this year.

02The Norwegian Road Federation, or OFV, an automotive industry group, estimates that nearly 96% of new cars registered in Norway in January were all electric.

03No other country has such a high rate of electric car or EV ownership.

04The OFV noted that of the 9,343 new cars sold last month in Norway, 8,954 of them were all electric.

05Of the 50 most sold models, only two were non-electric.

06The first of those came in 33rd place among the 50 models, the Federation said.

07The European Automotive Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, reported the share of electric cars in Europe was just 13.6% during 2024.

08That was the first recorded decrease since 2020.

09OFV Director Oivind Sundberg-Turshen said in a statement, We've never seen this before.

10If the rest of the year continues like this, we will very soon be close to the 2025 goal.

11He noted that reaching 100% of the goal means to continue to offer the incentives that make it profitable to choose an electric car over other models.

12Even though it is a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims to only sell zero-emission new vehicles starting in 2025.

13That goal is 10 years ahead of the target set by the European Union, or EU.

14Norway is not a member of the EU.

15One difference between the EU and Norway's method is that Norway has not banned the sale of cars with engines that burn fuel.

16Instead, Norway offers a number of tax breaks to EV manufacturers and owners.

17On the other hand, the country heavily taxes gas-powered vehicles.

18For example, Norwegian EV owners do not have to pay road tolls and receive free parking in public car parks.

19EVs are also permitted to use parts of roads normally saved for public transportation vehicles.

20While some tax breaks and incentives have been reduced over the years, EVs have still kept expanding across Norwegian roads.

21Frude Vattum is a 50-year-old father of three who owns two EVs.

22He told the French news agency AFP he started buying EVs because of his concern for the environment and for the benefits of driving them.

23He lives in an area near Oslo where the streets are full of Teslas, Audis, and Volkswagens.

24Some less costly Chinese EVs are increasingly appearing too.

25Many homes have a device to charge or supply electricity to their EVs battery.

26Norway also has a large national network of super-fast charging stations.

27Having a nationwide charging network was important for Vattum, who, like many Norwegians, often travels by car to his second home in the mountains, several hours outside Oslo.

28He said he finds it easy to plan and make trips with numerous charging stations available.

29You don't have to plan your trip as much as before, Vattum said.

30He added that he uses the 15- to 20-minute charging brakes his vehicle needs to make it up to the mountains to shop for food.

31Even if EV sales fail to meet the 100% mark this year, experts say Norway can still be seen as having met its goal.

32Kristina Bu heads the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association.

33She told AFP, we should finish the year at between 95 and 100%.

34I'm Jill Robbins.

35I'm Jill Robbins.

36I'm Jill Robbins.

37I'm Jill Robbins.

38I'm Jill Robbins.

39I'm Jill Robbins.

40I'm Jill Robbins.

41I'm Jill Robbins.

42I'm Jill Robbins.