Electric cars in Norway surpassing combustion is imminent

Here is the overtaking of full electric cars over petrol cars. Zero-emission cars sold in the country now account for 94%.

By: Francesco Barontini

Sep 29, 2024 at 5:01am ET

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It was only a matter of time, everyone knew that the overtaking would happen. The first country where there will be more electric cars on the road than petrol cars will be Norway. It will happen very soon or perhaps it has even already happened.

This is said by the Norwegian government itself, which published an analysis of the car fleet carried out in collaboration with the Scandinavian country's automotive industry association.

Transition goes beyond expectations

Virtually only electric cars are now sold in Norway. In August they accounted for 94 per cent of the total. The country has always been a leader in zero-emission mobility, being able to count on a series of conditions (income, energy supply, population density) that allowed the inhabitants to embrace the use of battery-powered vehicles en masse years ago, when the transition was not yet being considered elsewhere.

Indeed, it has gone beyond expectations. In fact, it had set the end of 2025 as the deadline by which combustion cars sold should be less than 10 per cent. That was more than a year in advance. And indeed, many manufacturers decided to stop selling combustion cars, given the low numbers they were reaching.

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An obvious difference in pace

According to data published by the government, there were 751,450 electric cars on the road in Norway at the end of August, while there were 755,244 petrol cars. However, considering that around 10,000 BEVs and a few hundred petrol cars are sold each month in Oslo and the surrounding area, it is clear that September will close with overtaking. In fact, all things considered, the overtaking should have happened already.

Soon there will also be overtaking on the sum of all combustion cars (petrol and diesel). It is estimated that it will happen within three years. Diesel cars had a good time a decade ago, but since 2017 they have been losing market share. In Norway, the overtaking of diesel-only cars by electric cars is expected to happen by the end of the year.