The number of electric cars on the roads of Norway has surpassed that of gasoline models for the first time, a specialized agency announced this past week. Of the 2.8 million registered individual vehicles in the country, 754,303 are fully electric compared to 753,905 that run on gasoline, reported the Traffic Information Council. (OFV). Diesel models remain the most numerous, with nearly a million units, but their market share is rapidly declining.
Historical milestone
“It’s historic.” “A milestone that few would have imagined ten years ago,” emphasized Øyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of the OFV, in a statement. “The electrification of the private car fleet is progressing at a steady pace, and Norway is rapidly moving towards the goal of becoming the first country in the world whose car fleet will be dominated by electric vehicles,” he added.
The Scandinavian country wants that starting in 2025, ten years ahead of the target set by the European Union, only zero-emission cars will be sold, meaning essentially electric vehicles and a small portion of hydrogen cars.
Easy to acquire
In August, thanks in part to the Tesla Model Y, 94.3% of the new cars sold in the country were fully electric. Norwegian authorities have implemented a very favorable tax system to make electric cars highly competitive against thermal and hybrid vehicles. Success in Norway contrasts with the difficulties in other parts of Europe, where so far this year, electric car sales account for 12.5% of the total.
