Greater than 97 % of the brand new vehicles 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 a few of the many carrots it used to encourage its profitable EV transition. Cecilie Knibe Kroglund, state secretary within the nation’s Ministry of Transport, reveals a few of the challenges that include success.
What had been the vital early steps to advertise the EV swap?
Kroglund: Battery-electric automobiles have had exemptions from the 25 % value-added tax and from the CO2– and weight-based registration tax that apply to combustion-engine automobiles. We used different tax incentives to encourage constructing charging stations on highways and in rural areas. Cities had the chance to exempt zero-emissions vehicles from toll roads. EV drivers additionally bought decreased ferry fares, free parking, and entry to bus lanes in lots of cities. The know-how for the automobiles wasn’t that good firstly of the incentives program, however we had the taxes and incentives to make conventional passenger vehicles costlier.
What had been the most important boundaries, and the way did policymakers overcome them?
Kroglund: Early on the know-how was difficult. In summertime it was simple to gas the EV, however in wintertime it’s double using vitality. However the know-how has improved quite a bit 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 standard vehicles, particularly concerning consolation, automobile measurement, and vary. The fast enlargement of charging infrastructure alongside main corridors has additionally been vital to beat vary anxiousness.
How have non-public corporations responded to authorities incentives?
Kroglund: I’m personally stunned that it went so effectively. This was a long-term dedication from the federal government, and the market has responded to that. Many Norwegian corporations use EVs. The marketplace for charging infrastructure is taken into account commercially viable and not wants monetary help. Nevertheless, we don’t see commercial-vehicle adoption going as quick as passenger automobiles, and we had the identical objective. So we should 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 traditional automobile even with out tax exemptions, and general automobile use continues to rise. Nationwide, regional, and native governments should discover totally different instruments to advertise strolling, bicycling, and public transport as a result of every metropolis and area is totally different.
How relevant are these classes to poorer or much less well-administered nations and why?
Kroglund: We’re totally different as nations. The geographies are totally 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 methods the place efficient taxation is established, which will not be the case in poorer nations. Different advantages, similar to decrease native emissions, solely apply in locations with plenty of visitors.
The Norwegian expertise exhibits that the financial incentives work, nevertheless it additionally exhibits that EVs work even in a rustic with chilly climate.
This text seems within the February 2026 print challenge as “Cecilie Knibe Kroglund.”
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