Norway is giving an incredible lesson to the rest of the countries, and this Nordic country is showing the world that you can lead an electric revolution on the roads while supporting its economy with oil. That’s right, and this strategy that they are carrying out has managed to bring sustainability and economic progress hand in hand, how? Norway has managed to make nine out of ten cars sold in 2024 fully electric, and that is despite the fact that Norway is one of the largest oil exporters, how have they achieved this? Stay tuned and we’ll tell you.
A radical change, how have they done it?
Norway has been carrying out public policies for years that have combined incentives and penalties. How? Well, internal combustion vehicles have faced high taxes while electric cars have been exempt from import duties and taxes, so it is clear that between paying a lot or paying less, the population has chosen to pay less, moving “to the other side” of the automotive industries.
The most curious thing?
This incentive program has been financed thanks to the income generated by oil in the country, as you read, in 2023 the data for Norway are abysmal, 2 million barrels of crude oil per day, that is, 62% of the total value of this country’s exports.
The objective of this country is to sell only electric vehicles, and they are very, very close to achieving this, only in 2024 they sold a total of 88.9% of electric vehicles, and for this reason, the director of the Norwegian Road Federation, Christina Bu, has stated that they hope to be the first country in the world to completely eliminate gasoline and diesel vehicles from sale.
Who is the top seller?
Is it any surprise that Tesla dominates the electric market in some country? Yes, the Model Y was the best-selling car in Norway with 16,858 units, followed by the Tesla Model 3 (7,264 units), making a total of 24,259 registered cars. Let’s not kid ourselves, other companies such as Volkswagen (7,222 units of vehicles), Volvo (7,229 units) or Toyota (6,007 units) have also recorded notable sales, but Tesla’s has been clearly epic.
The only non-electric vehicle that has snuck into the best-selling ranking is the Toyota Yaris, which has obtained the 9th position of the best-selling, but it is a hybrid and has very low consumption!
How is it that Norway leads the way in oil?
Yes, it seems paradoxical with what we have just said, but Norway is one of the world’s giants in oil and gas production, and if they have been able to do so… it means that any nation can follow in their footsteps. By imposing high taxes on combustion and encouraging the population to use electric vehicles, they have managed to make history. With the numbers in hand, Norway leads the 12th position as the largest oil producer in the world, but they have managed to transform their resources to lead a sustainable management for all, showing that another world is possible, you just have to dedicate the will and resources to it.
An epic feat
Norway has achieved something that seems impossible to other countries: that there are more electric vehicles circulating than gasoline vehicles (754,303 electric vehicles compared to 753,905 gasoline vehicles), and little by little we will see how this second figure decreases in favour of electric cars.
So, if Norway, whose economic base is based on oil, is able to banish combustion vehicles from its roads… anyone can do it, it only needs to implement the right policies that balance sustainability and profitability. It is not enough to just watch from afar how this country becomes a zero-emission country, it is necessary to follow its model!