Norway is often held up as the future when it comes to the changing nature of national vehicle fleets, with its percentage of new electric cars (BEV and PHEV) sold now hitting 75%. As a country with a similar population to Ireland and largely rural landscape, it also provides some useful comparisons. 

Currently in Ireland, sales of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are running at around 27% and while Norway looks on course to phase out diesel and petrol vehicle sales completely by 2030, Ireland has set a target of 2030, but, so far, has few concrete plans in place to achieve this.  

So how has Norway been able to make the switch to EV more easily than all other European countries, despite its huge size and spread population?

Firstly, it should be pointed out that Norway is a rich country with huge resources, with its wealth ironically based on oil. It can also be described as socially progressive, with its citizens willing to pay higher taxes for improved living standards. 

The Government in Norway has taken a holistic approach to the issue of EVs since the early 1990s. It has largely avoided personal grants and instead invested in infrastructure and looked at the practicalities of EV ownership in terms of tax breaks and money saving initiatives. 

One of the major factors is that there is no tax on electric vehicle purchases. So, for example, while the cost of importing a petrol VW Golf into Norway may be only around two thirds of the cost of an E-Golf, the addition of taxes totalling some €12000, made up of VAT, CO2 Tax, NOx Tax, and Weight Tax, actually make the petrol Golf more expensive to buy. The only additional charge on the E-Golf is a common €249 scrappage charge.  Also there is a company car tax discount for EVs and from 1996 to 2021, there has been no road tax on electric cars. 

Local governments have also got heavily involved in the push for electric and have created practical incentives for owners. So for example, EV drivers get either free or a 50% discount (depending on location) on access to certain services. These include; parking, ferry travel, and road tolls. There is even free vehicle charging in many locations. EVs are also currently allowed unrestricted access to bus lanes.  

But perhaps the most important factor contributing to the EV success has been the rapid development of charging infrastructure. Norway now has some 16,000 vehicle charging points. This is almost 10% of the total charging stations in Europe, with Norway only representing 0.7% of the total European population. By comparison, Ireland currently has around 1400 stations, less than 10% of Norway’s total and with similar 5 million population levels. Norway also committed to establishing two multi-standard fast charging stations every 50 km on all main roads in 2017 and has successfully achieved this goal. 

So it has not been easy, or cheap, for Norway to become a European leader when it comes to EV adoption. The country has benefited from a clear strategy, strong political will and a receptive public to get where it is now. Whether any of these factors are currently in place in Ireland is open to serious question.