A new record was broken in 2021: 64.5% of new cars sold in Norway were electric. Now almost one in five cars driving in the Nordic country runs on electricity. The sale of new thermal engine cars should be banned in 2025. A shame for the Norwegian petromonarchy, which derives its immense wealth from gas and oil.
With 11% market share and sales doubling in 2020, the American brand Tesla comes out on top, despite prices that are often much higher than those of its competitors. According to a study by the Norwegian Statistical Institute (SSB), while the electric car is becoming more democratic, it still remains the privilege of the wealthiest: in 2019, the richest 10% of Norwegians bought 37% of new electric cars, against 10% for the poorest.
In Oslo, the Norwegian Center for Transport Research (TOI) looked in 2020 at the habits of the owners of these vehicles, by studying the behavior of the inhabitants of three major regions of the country. Result: more than 40% had used their electric car for at least one trip of more than 300 km in the last twelve months.
Every five kilometers
But the researchers found a systematic correlation between battery capacity and trip length”. Thus, households with two cars, one of which is electric, with a small or medium capacity battery, have generally chosen their other petrol or diesel vehicle to go to their second home. Important information, which puts the use of electricity into perspective, when we know the importance for Norwegians of their 400,000 chalets spread throughout the territory.
On the main roads, it is now possible to find a fast charger, making it possible to fill up with electricity in twenty minutes, every five kilometers. Most Norwegians, however, charge their car at home, on average 4.4 times a week, compared to 1.1 times at work. More than 40% have invested in a home charging station. In 2020, electric cars used 0.52% of the electricity produced by the country.
As the car fleet changed, the urban landscape changed. Replacement terminals had to be installed. Air quality has improved, as in Bergen, the country’s second largest city with 280,000 inhabitants, where 30% of cars in circulation are electric (a world record for a medium-sized city). Pollution episodes are less and less frequent.
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