2024-09-18 09:54:09
In a world first: electric cars now outnumber gasoline models and are close behind diesel on the roads of Norway, a major hydrocarbon producer on the verge of completing the selection of its vehicle fleet.
Of the 2.8 million vehicles currently registered in the Scandinavian government, 754,303 are all-electric, or 26% of the fleet, compared to 753,905 which run on gasoline, the Information Board announced on Tuesday (OFV). Diesel cars are still the most, with one million examples (around 35% of the total), but their market share is rapidly decreasing.
“This is history,” said Øyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of OFV, in a press release. “Norway is moving quickly towards the goal of becoming the first country in the world whose fleet will be dominated by electric vehicles,” he added. “To my knowledge, there is no other country in the world in the same situation”, namely where electric ships carry gasoline, specified Øyvind Solberg Thorsen.
According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity represents only 3.2% of the world’s car fleet (4.1% in France, 7.6% in China, 18% in Iceland) in 2023, and these figures, unlike Norwegian data, with plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Norway, paradoxically a large producer of oil and natural gas, has set itself the goal of selling new cars that emit only zero – in short, electricity because hydrogen is very flat – from 2025, ie ten years before the European Union.
Ultra-friendly taxation
In August, driven in particular by the Tesla Model Y, all-electric vehicles represented 94.3% of new registrations, an unparalleled level which contrasts with problems elsewhere in Europe. “We are almost there,” said the secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Vehicles Association, Christina Bu.
In order to achieve the electrification of the road, the Norwegian authorities have for ten years implemented a favorable tax that makes all electric models competitive compared to hot cars, which are taxed very, but the monuments. Some other benefits, such as free city fees and free parking in public parking lots or the possibility of using the common roads, have also contributed to this success, even if they have decreased more over time go.
“The speed observed in the renewal of the car fleet today may indicate that in 2026 we will still have more electric cars than diesel cars,” Øyvind Solberg Thorsen noted.
Green light
This change plays an important – but not sufficient – role in Norway’s efforts to meet its climate commitments, namely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. In 2023, its emissions fell by 4.7% compared to the previous year, according to official statistics, but the reduction compared to 1990 was still only 9.1%.
The electric car is considered all the virtues in the country as it draws all its electricity from its hydraulic dams.
The success of the Norwegian model contrasts with the situation elsewhere in Europe, where all electronic technology stands in favor of hybrid models in particular. Sales of electric cars have begun to decline from the end of 2023 on the old Industry, where they represent 12.5% of new car sales since the beginning of the year, according to figures from the Association of European Manufacturers (ACEA).
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