More than 97 percent of the brand new automobiles Norwegians registered in November 2025 had been electrical, nearly reaching the nation’s objective of one hundred pc. Consequently, the federal government has begun eradicating among the many carrots it used to encourage its successful EV transition. Cecilie Knibe Kroglund, state secretary within the nation’s Ministry of Transport, reveals among the challenges that include success.
What had been the vital early steps to advertise the EV change?
Kroglund: Battery-electric autos have had exemptions from the 25 p.c value-added tax and from the CO2– and weight-based registration tax that apply to combustion-engine autos. We used different tax incentives to encourage constructing charging stations on highways and in rural areas. Cities had the chance to exempt zero-emissions automobiles from toll roads. EV drivers additionally obtained decreased ferry fares, free parking, and entry to bus lanes in lots of cities. The expertise for the autos wasn’t that good firstly of the incentives program, however we had the taxes and incentives to make conventional passenger automobiles costlier.
What had been the most important obstacles, and the way did policymakers overcome them?
Kroglund: Early on the expertise was difficult. In summertime it was straightforward to gas the EV, however in wintertime it’s double using power. However the expertise has improved loads within the final 5 years.
The Norwegian tax exemptions on EVs had been launched earlier than EVs got here to market and had been decisive in offsetting the early disadvantages of EVs in comparison with typical automobiles, particularly relating to consolation, car dimension, and vary. The fast enlargement of charging infrastructure alongside main corridors has additionally been vital to beat range anxiety.
How have personal firms responded to government incentives?
Kroglund: I’m personally shocked that it went so properly. This was a long-term dedication from the federal government, and the market has responded to that. Many Norwegian firms use EVs. The marketplace for charging infrastructure is taken into account commercially viable and now not wants monetary help. Nevertheless, we don’t see commercial-vehicle adoption going as quick as passenger autos, and we had the identical objective. So we must evaluation the targets, and we’ll must evaluation the incentives.
What sudden new issues is Norway’s success creating?
Kroglund: The success of the passenger-vehicle insurance policies imply EVs are in competitors with public transport within the bigger cities. Driving an EV stays less expensive than driving a standard automobile even with out tax exemptions, and total automobile use continues to rise. Nationwide, regional, and native governments should discover completely different instruments to advertise strolling, bicycling, and public transport as a result of every metropolis and area is completely different.
How relevant are these classes to poorer or much less well-administered nations and why?
Kroglund: We’re completely different as nations. The geographies are completely different, and a few nations have even larger cities than our nationwide inhabitants. This isn’t a coverage for L.A., however what we see in Norway is that incentives work. Nevertheless, tax incentives are solely relevant in programs the place efficient taxation is established, which might not be the case in poorer nations. Different advantages, corresponding to decrease native emissions, solely apply in locations with a lot of site visitors.
The Norwegian expertise exhibits that the financial incentives work, however it additionally exhibits that EVs work even in a rustic with chilly climate.
This text seems within the February 2026 print situation as “Cecilie Knibe Kroglund.”
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