How This Country Managed to Have 54% of All New Cars Sold Be Electric

In 2020, with its record electric vehicle sales, Norway has become the frontrunner in e-mobility. For the first time, 54% of the new passenger vehicles hitting the streets of the country are electric cars, and when plug-in hybrids are taken into account, that number rises to 83%.

How did Norway managed to hit those numbers? Thanks to the country’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the authorities had the freedom to offer massive tax incentives to their citizens. Norway also adopted policy measures, offered free parking for electric vehicles and charging stations in great numbers across the country. Car running on petrol or diesel accounted for 71% of the market in 2015 and five years later, that share dropped to only 17%.

Since the country’s electricity source is almost exclusively from hydropower, driving electric cars in Norway is even cleaner than in countries relying on coal as their energy source. The United Kingdom intends to follow in Norway’s footsteps by banning the sales of new cars that only run on fossil fuels by 2030. That’s five years earlier than expected.