Free parking and no tolls for EVs: How Norway became the world leader for electric vehicles

Renault ZE vehicles at Eidfjord, Norway. ColumnMotoring Norway even had the help of a pop star and a stolen Fiat. IN JULY, 97.6% of every new car sold in Norway was fully electric. Not “mostly electric with some hybrids thrown in” but fully electric. Petrol and diesel cars are now so marginal in Norway’s new car market that when 12 petrol cars were sold there in a single month earlier this year, it made international news. Electric cars have already overtaken diesel on Norway’s roads, and close to a third of the country’s entire vehicle fleet—not just new sales, the whole fleet—is now battery electric. Most of the main manufacturers don’t even bother importing petrol or diesel cars to the country anymore. I’ve spent a lot of this year writing about Ireland’s own EV numbers. We just hit a g