Twenty per cent of all cars in Norway are electric

Norway reaches a new milestone in embracing electric vehicles. Twenty per cent of all cars on Norwegian roads are now electric.

This has been reported by the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association to various media outlets. In the space of three years, the proportion of electric vehicles in the Norwegian car fleet has risen from 10 to 20 per cent. The organisation expects this proportion to continue to rise, reaching 30 per cent in two years’ time.

The Norwegian government has been encouraging the use and purchase of electric vehicles for some time. Among other things, with tax breaks on the purchase of electric vehicles. The country aims for all new cars sold to have zero emissions by 2025.

The share of electric vehicles in Norway's fleet varies greatly by region, by the way. In the capital Oslo, for instance, the percentage is 33.2%. In Finnmark province in the north of the country, however, the percentage remains stuck at 4.7%.

Incidentally, this means that the province of Finnmark is still ahead of the Netherlands in this respect. The RAI Association reports that 3.3 per cent of all vehicles in the Netherlands are fully electric. Petrol cars are still by far in the majority, numbering 7.2 million, accounting for 79 per cent of the Dutch vehicle fleet. 10 per cent of the vehicles on Dutch roads are diesel cars (950,000).

The number of electric vehicles on Dutch roads is growing steadily. RAI Vereniging reports that as of 1 September, more than 300,000 electric vehicles were registered in the Netherlands for the first time. On 1 January 2020, there were just under 108,000. Almost 600,000 vehicles have a hybrid powertrain. That is almost twice as many as more than 2.5 years ago.

RAI Vereniging largely attributes this growth to Dutch incentive policies. However, these benefits are being phased out every year. For after 2025, no policy for electric vehicles is planned for the time being. RAI Vereniging expects the ingrowth of EVs to level off as a result.

The Dutch government aims for 100 per cent of new cars sold to be electric by 2030. To keep the climate goals for the mobility sector in sight while working to ensure a healthy supply of used EVs for Dutch citizens, RAI Vereniging says targeted EV policy is still needed beyond 2025, for both the business and private markets.

Just earlier this month, the Dutch police announced the launch of a tender for the basic police vehicle, covering both passenger vehicles and passenger buses. For the first time, the police are also tendering electric vehicles.

"Part of the tender basic police vehicles will be electric," says products and services manager for Vehicles & Vessels Irene Meulenkamp. "A number of units have already tested electric cars. The police is opting for electric driving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The part that still has a fossil combustion engine will become petrol or mild-hybrid. To reduce the risk of supply problems, we choose to contract two brands for passenger vehicles. For electric passenger vans, the market is not yet developed far enough, so those will be diesels. We do keep the option open for electric vans."

Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Image: Pixabay / geralt