Whenever anyone wants to look at what’s going on at the sharp end of the spear that is the electric shift in vehicles, the place they generally turn to is Norway. And with reason: the country has led the way in sales of EVs for years. The programs that have been put in place and the public's support for them have made the shift there faster than anywhere else on the planet.
For many, Norway represents the model to follow and also proof that the objectives set by many countries to go all-electric (generally by 2030 or 2035) are achievable.
The latest figures published by Norwegian authorities only reinforce the argument. In 2021, 65 percent of all new electric vehicles sold in the country were fully electrified. In total, we’re talking about 176,276 models, and we’re talking about an 11 percent increase from 2020, year in which 54 percent of sales were all-electric.
The overall most popular new vehicle with car buyers was the Tesla Model 3. In second place, ironically, was the only model in the top 10 sales chart to offer a combustion engine, the Toyota RAV4 hybrid. In third place sits the Volkswagen ID.4. We also note the presence of the Polestar 2 in 10th place.
The Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association told Reuters that the percentage of electric vehicle sales could reach as high as 80 percent in 2022, provided the shortage of electronic chips does not lead to further shipping delays.
As in 2020, Norway's generous subsidies are one of the big factors behind the country's wholehearted adoption of electric vehicles. Buyers do not have to pay the taxes imposed on traditional ICE vehicles when they purchase an EV. In 2021, the country's government sacrificed about $3.41 billion in tax revenue to advance its plan to end all gasoline car sales by 2025.
Look at the numbers a little closer, and other data jumps out. In 2011, for instance, 75.7 percent of vehicles sold in Norway ran on diesel. Today, the proportion is only 4 percent. For gasoline-only models, the proportion was 20.1 percent in 2011; ten years later, it sits at a mere 4 percent as well.
Recall that all-electric vehicle sales first overtook those of ICE vehicles in Norway in mid-2019, point at which EV sales hit 50 percent of total sales.
Will we see that kind of buy-in here in the next few years? Your guess is as good as ours.