I'm in Norway — and EVs are everywhere. Here's what the country has done differently

OSLO, Norway — Electric vehicles are beauteous overmuch everyplace you look successful Norway.

The affluent Nordic country, which is known for its massive lipid and state reserves successful the North Sea, has agelong been blazing a trail successful the modulation distant from interior combustion motor (ICE) cars.

A dependable watercourse of measures to enactment the uptake of EVs, from taxation exemptions to reduced fees, has present enactment the state connected the cusp of wholly erasing gasoline and diesel vehicles from its caller car market.

For immoderate of the country's large cities, astir 30% of each rider cars connected the roads are present afloat electric, according to Norway's EV Association (NEVA), which represents electrical car owners successful the country. The complaint successful superior metropolis Oslo, meanwhile, is arsenic precocious arsenic 40%.

It is possibly nary astonishment past that lasting astatine a crosswalk successful Oslo's metropolis halfway means waiting for a near-constant watercourse of afloat electrical models to travel to a stop.

"It is precise visible. And I deliberation immoderate radical don't adjacent truly recognize however bully this is due to the fact that it has happened rather fast," Christina Bu, caput wide of NEVA, told CNBC during an interrogation astatine the association's bureau successful Oslo.

"The aerial is cleaner, it is quieter, and this is simply a alteration that hasn't truly outgo consumers that much. They really emotion driving an EV and it works rather well," Bu said.

Norway's income of EVs person accrued from little than 1% of full car income successful 2010 to 88.9% last year — and this inclination doesn't amusement immoderate motion of slowing.

Data published by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, which is liable for the country's nationalist roadworthy network, recovered that EVs accounted for much than 93% of the caller cars sold successful 2025 truthful far.

By comparison, electrical conveyance income accounted for 15.4% of the full European Union marketplace stock successful the archetypal fewer months of 2025. Norway is not a subordinate of the EU.

Stateside, the stock of caller rider EV income deed 10% successful 2023, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, up from 1% adoption arsenic precocious arsenic 2017.

Norway's State Secretary successful the Ministry of Transport Cecilie Knibe Kroglund said the country's occurrence successful transitioning distant from combustion cars has been driven by semipermanent and accordant policymaking.

"We person a batch of taxation incentives and idiosyncratic incentives, which are the astir important things, and besides infrastructure, of course," Kroglund said during an interrogation successful Oslo.

Some of Norway's EV incentives see a VAT exemption, discounts connected roadworthy and parking taxes and entree to autobus lanes. The authorities has besides heavy invested successful nationalist charging infrastructure, and galore Norwegian households are capable to complaint their cars astatine home.

The deficiency of an automaker lobby successful Norway is besides thought to person benefited the country's EV adoption complaint implicit the years.

NEVA's Bu said past week that the state of astir 5.5 cardinal radical achieved a caller electrical milestone of 10,000 accelerated chargers nationwide. The roll-out of these charging stations has not been accordant crossed the country, however, with acold much installed successful the southbound compared to the acold north.

Nonetheless, the ever-growing fig of fast-charging stations has defied concerns from critics who had antecedently warned that the powerfulness grid whitethorn not beryllium capable to cope.

"Norway has had beardown policies for galore years. It's not conscionable astir taxation exemptions [for EVs] but besides higher and higher taxes connected interior combustion motor cars. So, the past 3 years oregon so, the wide acquisition taxes person doubled – and it was already precise high," NEVA's Bu said.

"Cars that pollute are taxed retired of concern successful Norway," she added.

Norway's travel to becoming a planetary person successful EV adoption has not been without its critics, however.

Some lawmakers person raised concerns astir the fairness of its EV incentives, saying they tin disproportionately payment higher-income individuals and perchance travel astatine the disbursal of other, much sustainable proscription options, specified arsenic walking and cycling.

Norway, which is aiming for c neutrality by 2030, has besides faced questions astir its relation successful tackling the clime crisis. The country's system is heavy reliant connected fossil substance revenues, creating thing of a contradiction with its stated greenish ambitions. The burning of fossil fuels specified arsenic coal, lipid and state is the chief driver of the clime crisis.

Looking ahead, Kroglund said the state plans to afloat modulation to electrical metropolis buses successful 2025, portion making heavy-duty vehicles 75% renewable by the extremity of the decade.

"We person to admit that transport has a relation successful clime change. I deliberation 30% of contamination comes from the transport sector, truthful we had to bash something," Kroglund said.

"We person to determination guardant connected different parts of the transport sector, similar metropolis buses. We person bully numbers connected that too, but the adjacent level is heavy-duty vehicles," she added.