THE NATION LEADING A REVOLUTION
WE need to talk about Norway. It is promoting the biggest revolution in driving seen in Europe for decades. Quietly, it has become the world’s leading market for electric or partly electric cars. Last year alone, sales of pure EVs grew by 40%, and one out of every three new models bought in a total market of 147,929 cars had zero emissions. When plug-in hybrids are added, just under half of all new cars had some form of electric propulsion, by far the biggest penetration in the world.
As older cars are rinsed out of the system, the percentage of electric grows, and passed 10% of the total national ‘car park’ last October. This enthusiasm is down to a favourable tax regime. The cars are exempt from the standard VAT rate of 25%, so the barrier to entry in other countries – the higher initial cost – is not in play. EVs also are exempt from some parking fees and from tolls and even ferry fares, and drivers are allowed to use some bus lanes in cities.
Because of this, the Nissan Leaf is the bestselling car in Norway (12,303 sold in 2018, or more than a quarter of sales in all of Europe), and it is the only country in the world where a pure EV tops the charts. Tesla is in second place, with sales last year of 8,623 cars.
The double irony is that while Norway’s wealth is founded on fossil fuel exports, 98% of the electricity used to recharge car batteries comes from clean hydro-electric sources, allowing the country to meet its climate change targets three years early.
The Leaf also is the bestseller here, accounting for 63% of all pure EVs sold – but the total EV market in 2018 was just 1,233 cars, less than half of one per cent of all sales. However Norway’s embrace of EVs is hoovering up production, making it more difficult for other countries to increase supply, and it will continue to distort the overall market for years yet.