Norway became the first country in the world in 2020 in which electric cars accounted for more than half of new registrations, a milestone that puts it on the right track to its goal of decarbonizing all its vehicles us from 2025.
According to the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV), despite the covid-19 pandemic, electric vehicles had a market share of 54.3% last year, compared to 42.4 % the previous year.
Unprecedented in the world, sales accelerated at the end of the year, and in December the market share of electric cars reached a new monthly record of 66.7%.
The four best-selling new models in the country (Audi i-tron, Tesla Model 3, Volkswagen ID.3 and Nissan Leaf) are all powered by electricity.
The fifth, the Volkswagen Golf, has a rechargeable version but the statistics do not distinguish between the different types of engines.
“It’s a very positive trend,” said Christina Bu, general secretary of the Norwegian Association of Electric Vehicles, which promotes the “zero emissions” premise.
“We are well on track to achieve the 2025 targets,” he added. Norway, which is paradoxically the largest producer of hydrocarbons in Western Europe, has the ambition that all its new cars will be “zero emissions” from this year.
To achieve its goal, the Nordic country is pursuing an extremely advantageous fiscal policy, although it has begun to cut back on some of the privileges granted to electric cars, such as free urban tolls or the possibility of using public transport corridors.
Unlike diesel or gasoline cars, which are subject to very high charges, rechargeable cars are exempt from virtually all types of taxes, which makes them more competitive at the time of purchase.
Fossil energy and electricity
Hybrid vehicles, which combine fossil energy and electricity, also increased their sales in 2020, with a market share of 29.1% compared to 25.9% in 2019.
Despite this unparalleled performance, the Norwegian electric vehicle association says last year it expected electricity to account for almost 60% of the market. “We would have gotten it if it hadn’t been for the coronavirus,” Christina Bu noted, “but the virus delayed several launches.”
For the current year, the association claims to have a market share of 65%. “For the first time, the number of launches of electric models (which could be about 40) is expected to exceed that of other vehicles, including rechargeable hybrids,” Bu noted.
But although it is advancing to record levels, the electrification of the Norwegian car fleet is still very progressive. By the end of 2019, 9% of country vehicles were running on electricity.
On the other hand, the advantages granted to the purchase of electric vehicles also have a cost for the state coffers. According to the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, last year the loss of tax revenue approached 20 billion kronor (about 2.3 billion dollars).