Electric Cars Everywhere in Norway: What Makes the Difference?

Norway is famous for its huge oil and gas reserves in the North Sea, but years ago it pioneered the transition away from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

According to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association (NEVA), in some major Norwegian cities, around 30% of all passenger cars on the road are now fully electric. Meanwhile, in the capital Oslo, the proportion is as high as 40%.

Norway's electric car sales have grown from less than 1% of total car sales in 2010 to 88.9% last year – and the trend shows no signs of slowing.

Data released by the Norwegian Roads Administration shows that electric vehicles will account for more than 93% of new cars sold in 2025 so far.

Meanwhile, this rate in the European Union (EU) is only 15.4%. Norway is not a member of the EU.

Norway's success in transitioning away from internal combustion engine vehicles is due to long-term and consistent policy planning, said Cecilie Knibe Kroglund, Norway's State Secretary for Transport .

In an interview in Oslo, Ms Kroglund said Norway has a lot of tax incentives and user incentives, which are the most important things, and of course infrastructure.

Some of Norway's electric car incentives include value-added tax (VAT) exemptions, reduced road and parking taxes, and access to bus lanes.

The government has also invested heavily in public charging infrastructure, and many Norwegian households can charge their cars at home.

The country of about 5.5 million people has reached a new milestone in electric vehicles with 10,000 fast-charging stations nationwide, said Christina Bu, secretary-general of NEVA.

The growing number of fast-charging stations has allayed concerns that the grid might not be able to cope. Ms Bu said Norway has had strong policies in place for many years.

The problem, she said, is not just the tax exemption for electric vehicles, but also the ever-increasing tax on internal combustion engine vehicles. In the past three years, general car purchase taxes have doubled, while they were already very high.

In Norway, polluting cars are taxed so high that they are no longer viable, she added. Looking ahead, Kroglund said Norway plans to switch to fully electric city buses by 2025, and to increase the share of heavy-duty vehicles powered by renewable energy to 75% by the end of the decade./.

According to VNA

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/xe-dien-khap-moi-noi-tai-na-uy-dieu-gi-lam-nen-su-khac-biet-255065.htm