Since the early 1990s, the Norwegian government has offered its citizens a number of incentives developed to promote the sale of zero-emission vehicles. As a mark of the program’s success, in 2024, close to 89% of new cars sold in the country were electric vehicles, according to the Norwegian EV Association.
In 2016, the Norwegian Parliament set a goal that all new cars sold in 2025 would be zero-emission vehicles. While the country still has a little ways to go, the numbers have increased steadily since 2010, when EVs only made up 1% of new car sales.
“We can already celebrate that electric cars have become the natural choice for most people. I firmly believe this trend will continue, and Norway is on track to reach its 2025 goal,” said Christina Bu, Secretary-General of the Norwegian EV Association. “The strongest incentive may be that we heavily tax the purchase of polluting petrol and diesel cars.”
Charging infrastructure has also become an important national issue. Norway currently has more than 9,400 fast chargers all over the country. While the U.S. has more than 12,000 fast charging stations throughout the country, Norway is a much smaller country, comparable to the size of Montana.