Norway is reaching a new milestone as the world’s leading country in the electric transition of vehicles. According to the country’s Road Traffic Information Board (OFV), the number of all-electric vehicles (excluding hybrids) on the Scandinavian state’s roads exceeds that of gasoline vehicles by a few hundred units (754,303 versus 753,905). “It’s historic, underlined Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of the OFV. Norway is moving rapidly towards the goal of becoming the first country in the world whose vehicle fleet is dominated by electric cars.” A world first that helps to make credible the very ambitious objective that the authorities have set: that of selling only new zero-emission cars from next year. Ten years before the European Union, of which Norway is not a member.
Only diesels remain the most numerous: of the 2.8 million individual vehicles in circulation, almost a million (around 35% of the total) run on this fuel, but their market share is falling sharply. “The speed we are seeing in the renewal of the car fleet today could indicate that in 2026 we will also have more electric cars than diesel cars,” Thorsen noted. A paradox, since the country remains a major producer of oil and natural gas, but electricity represents almost half of the country’s final consumption (including fuel and electricity), which makes it the leader among the member countries of the International Energy Agency. Above all, hydroelectricity covers 92% of its production.
Climate commitments still far from being achieved
In August, driven in particular by Tesla Model Ys, 100% electric cars accounted for 94.3% of new registrations. And international comparisons show the huge lead that Norway has taken. According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), electric vehicles represented only 3.2% of the global vehicle fleet (4.1% in France, 7.6% in China, 18% in Iceland) in 2023, and these figures, unlike the Norwegian data, include plug-in hybrid vehicles.
To achieve this result, the Norwegian authorities have long implemented an ultra-favorable tax system that makes all-electric models competitive with heavily taxed thermal vehicles, but also hybrids. Certain other advantages, such as free urban tolls and parking in public car parks or the possibility of using collective traffic lanes, have also contributed to this success, even if they have been gradually reduced over time. The income per capita, significantly higher than the OECD average, also makes it possible to overcome the main pitfall of electric cars, namely their price.
The development of electric cars is still not enough for Norway to meet its climate commitments, namely a reduction of at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. In 2023, its emissions will have fallen by 4.7% compared to the previous year, according to official statistics, but the reduction compared to 1990 was still only 9.1%.
Darker landscape in the EU
The Scandinavian country’s positive electric climate contrasts with the more cloudy climate in the rest of the Old Continent. Sales of electric cars in Europe have started to decline since the end of 2023, where they have only represented 12.5% of new car sales since the start of the year, after several years of strong growth. Their market share should nevertheless increase sharply in 2025 to represent between 20% and 24% of new registrations, according to a study by the Transport & Environment (T & E) think tank. But some fear that the ban on sales of new petrol or hybrid vehicles could be called into question during the review clause planned for 2026, even if Ursula von der Leyen has ruled it out for the time being.
A slowdown that has an industrial impact on the continent. At the beginning of September, the Swedish manufacturer Northvolt announced that it wanted to reduce its activities and cut jobs to deal with a tense financial situation. Due to significant delays, BMW, one of the leading brands in electric vehicles worldwide, had for example given up in May on a 2 billion euro order concluded with Northvolt for the delivery of batteries. In June, it was ACC, a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies, which had announced a “break” in the construction of two factories, in Termoli in Italy and Kaiserslautern in Germany, citing the need for a technological update of the batteries to be produced. The 5.5 million Norwegians cannot do everything.
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