HOW ONE TINY EUROPEAN COUNTRY LEADS THE EV WORLD
You might think that China leads the electric revolution in the automotive industry, by encouraging as many people as possible to buy these cutting-edge vehicles. However, you’d be wrong as another country that’s half a world away is making an even more impressive effort. Norway, an affluent EU member with a population of just 5.3 million, has poured a significant amount of public money into some incentives to make new electric vehicles viable. As a consequence they’ve seen a boom in sales, to the extent that 30% of all new cars are now powered by electricity rather than gasoline.
Out with the Old, in with the New
It’s fair to say that the Norwegian government is being very aggressive in its drive to reduce emissions, as part of a plan to eliminate sales of ICE cars by 2025. Their politicians are serious when it comes to the 2015 Paris climate accord and have put in place a variety of proactive measures to support EV.
Billions Invested
By some estimates, the regulators have been investing as much as $1 billion per year to help push sales. They’ve eliminated substantial import duties on foreign-made electric cars and have reduced taxation in the showroom.
Ownership is encouraged in other ways as well, as drivers can use special traffic lanes in congested cities and can breeze through any tollbooths, without paying any fees.
Balancing It out
Still, the Norwegians are being quite canny about their approach and will now begin to eliminate many of those incentives, as the electric revolution really takes hold. In place, they will make “conventional” cars more expensive by gradually increasing taxation in an attempt to level the playing field. They want it to be equally as practical for the average Norwegian to choose an electric vehicle over a petrol or diesel-engined version. When all these tariffs are taken into account, they’re confident that this will drive the market forward in the right direction.
Global Model?
Could this work in any other country? The approach definitely needs a certain type of mindset and the native Norwegians have always been known for their commitment to the environment. However, it seems unlikely that French consumers, for example, would roll over so quickly and accept markedly higher taxes in the name of clean air. After all, violent protests quickly became widespread across France when a certain type of fuel taxation was proposed in 2018.
Help Needed
There’s only so much that Norway can do while the rest of the world lags behind. For example, demand is much higher than supply, as these vehicles are simply not being built elsewhere in great enough numbers. Not only that, but practicality continues to be an issue. Free charging points can be difficult to find, even in the bigger cities like Oslo.
On the positive side, EV momentum has now begun to build in many of the larger countries. This is helping to drive forward technologies so that battery issues and range become less problematic, but more progress is undoubtedly needed.
Looking Overseas
In the meantime, the Norwegian government may need to rely on their counterparts in China and the USA to fan the flames. The Scandinavian country is certainly making a big contribution to the future of the automotive industry, but without a major push by the big players overseas, forward progress may still falter.