Plug-in electric vehicles in Norway

Distribution of the Norwegian stock of passenger cars in use by type of fuel or powertrain at the end of June 2024.[1]
Plug-in electric cars in use as a proportion of all passenger cars on the road in selected countries and regional markets by the end of 2023.

The Norwegian fleet of plug-in electric vehicles is the largest per capita in the world.[2][3][4] In December 2016, Norway became the first country where five in every 100 passenger cars on the road were plug-in;[5] attained 10% in October 2018,[6] and reached 25% in September 2022.[1]

The Norwegian plug-in car segment market share has been world's highest for several years, achieving 29.1% of new cars sold in 2016,[7][8] 39.2% in 2017, 49.1% in 2018[9] 55.9% in 2019,[10] and 74.7% in 2020.[11] The record uptake rate achieved in 2020 allowed Norway to become the first country in the world where annual sales of all-electric cars outsold the combined volume of all passenger cars with internal combustion engines.[12][13] In January 2024, the share of combined EV was 93.9%: 92.1% full electrics (BEVs), and 1.8% plugin hybrids (PHEVs).[14]

According to a 2018 analysis by McKinsey & Company, Norway has already reached a critical mass of electric vehicles. Therefore, the country is the only one in the world in the third stage of a disruptive trend, and the EV disruption is inevitable.[15]

As of 31 December 2021, the stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in Norway totalled 647,000 units in use, consisting of 470,309 all-electric passenger cars and vans (including used imports), and 176,691 plug-in hybrids.[16] Norway listed as the top selling plug-in country market in Europe for three consecutive years, from 2016 to 2018.[5][17] The Nissan Leaf is the country's all-time best selling plug-in electric car, with over 65,500 units registered through 2020.[18]

The fleet of electric cars is one of the cleanest in the world since about 98% of the electricity generated in the country comes from renewable energy sources, mainly hydropower.[19][20] In 2017, and as a result of its fast growing EV adoption, Norway was able to achieve its climate target for average fleet CO2 emissions (85 g/km) for new passenger cars three years earlier than pledged.[21][22][23]

The adoption and deployment of zero emission vehicles in Norway has been driven by policy, and actively supported by the government since the 1990s.[24] In addition to non-monetary incentives, all-electric cars and vans are exempt from all non-recurring vehicle fees, including purchase taxes, and 25% VAT on purchase, making electric car purchase price competitive with conventional cars.[3] Also, a tax reduction for plug-in hybrids went into effect starting in July 2013.[25][26]

In 2015 the Parliament agreed to reduce and phase out some of the incentives beginning in 2018. Also local authorities were granted the right to decide whether electric cars can park for free and use public transport lanes.[27][28] In 2016, through its National Transport Plan 2018–2029 (NTP), a goal was set for all sales of new cars, urban buses and light commercial vehicles by 2025 to be zero emission vehicles.[24][29][30][31]

Several unintended consequences have resulted from the successful policies implemented to promote EV adoption, and raised several complaints and criticism. These include: high public subsidies as compared to the value of the reduced carbon footprint of electric vehicles;[32] the possibility of traffic congestion in some of Oslo's bus lanes due to the increasing number of electric cars; the loss of revenue for some ferry operators due to the large number of electric cars exempted from payment; and the shortage of parking spaces for owners of conventional cars due to preference to electric cars.[20][33][34][35][36]

  1. ^ a b Norsk Elbilforening (July 2024). "Personbilbestanden i Norge fordelt på drivstoff" [Passenger car stock in Norway by fuel] (in Norwegian). Norsk Elbilforening (Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association). Retrieved 8 July 2024. See graph under "Personbilbestanden i Norge fordelt på drivstoff"
  2. ^ "Electric cars take off in Norway". The Independent. Agence France-Presse. 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  3. ^ a b European Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (AVERE) (3 September 2012). "Norwegian Parliament extends electric car iniatives [sic] until 2018". AVERE. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  4. ^ Ole Henrik Hannisdahl (9 January 2012). "Eventyrlig elbilsalg i 2011" [Adventurous electric vehicle sales in 2011] (in Norwegian). Grønn bil. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012. See table "Elbilsalg i 2011 fordelt på måned og merke" (Electric vehicle sales in 2011, by month and brand) to see monthly sales for 2011.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TopTen2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Norway10pct was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference OFV2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Norsk2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference OFV2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference OFV2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference OFV2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Kane, Mark (5 January 2021). "Norway: Massive EV Sales Record In December, Tesla Model 3 Beats VW ID.3". InsideEVs.com. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference NorskBEV2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "EVs at 93.9% Share in Norway — Record High". 5 February 2024.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference EVImckinsey2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Norsk Elbilforening (Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association) (January 2022). "Antall elbiler og ladbare hybrider i Norge" [Number of electric cars and rechargeable hybrids in Norway] (in Norwegian). Norsk Elbilforening. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021. Click on the tab "Elbil" for the stock of electric cars and "Ladbar hybrid" for the stock of plug-in hybrids. As of 31 December 2021, the stock of registered light-duty plug-in electric vehicles totaled 647,000 units, consisting of 470,309 battery electric vehicles and 176,691 plug-in hybrids.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Global2018EVs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Øystein B. Fossum (19 January 2021). "Mest solgte noensinne" [Most sold ever] (in Norwegian). Dinside.no. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021. The Nissan Leaf is the all-time best selling electric car in Norway, with 65,528 units registered through 2020.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference TOI2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Reuters032013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference 5pctEVs2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference CO2Norsk_1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference CO2Norsk_2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Outlook2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ "Fortsatt godt elbilsalg i mai" [Still good EV sales in May] (in Norwegian). Grønn bil. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  26. ^ "Billigere plug-in hybrider fra 1.juli" [Cheaper plug-in hybrids from 1 July] (in Norwegian). Grønn bil. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference EV2018_1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference EV2018_2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference NTP01 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference NTP02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference NTP03 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Gillingham, Kenneth; Stock, James H. (November 2018). "The Cost of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions" (PDF). Journal of Economic Perspectives. 32 (4): 53–72. doi:10.1257/jep.32.4.53. S2CID 53652919. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference EVs2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference ferries was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ Cite error: The named reference BusLanes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference parking was invoked but never defined (see the help page).