Greater than 97 p.c of the brand new vehicles Norwegians registered in November 2025 had been electrical, nearly reaching the nation’s purpose of one hundred pc. Because of this, the federal government has begun eradicating a number 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 number of the challenges that include success.
What had been the essential early steps to advertise the EV swap?
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 vehicles from toll roads. EV drivers additionally bought lowered ferry fares, free parking, and entry to bus lanes in lots of cities. The expertise for the autos wasn’t that good at the beginning of the incentives program, however we had the taxes and incentives to make conventional passenger vehicles dearer.
What had been the most important limitations, 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 vitality. However the expertise has improved lots 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 vehicles, particularly relating to consolation, car dimension, and vary. The speedy growth of charging infrastructure alongside main corridors has additionally been essential to beat vary nervousness.
How have personal corporations responded to authorities incentives?
Kroglund: I’m personally shocked 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 now not wants monetary help. Nevertheless, we don’t see commercial-vehicle adoption going as quick as passenger autos, and we had the identical purpose. So we must overview the targets, and we’ll should overview the incentives.
What surprising 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 automotive even with out tax exemptions, and general automotive 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 international locations and why?
Kroglund: We’re totally different as international locations. The geographies are totally different, and a few international locations 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 techniques the place efficient taxation is established, which is probably not the case in poorer international locations. Different advantages, comparable to decrease native emissions, solely apply in locations with a lot of site visitors.
The Norwegian expertise exhibits that the financial incentives work, but it surely 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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