Norway becomes first country where electric cars outnumber gasoline cars!

The world is trying to reduce its dependence on traditional fuels including petrol and diesel. Electric vehicles are considered to be the best option. Many countries in the world are coming forward to promote the use of electric vehicles. In India, the government is also providing subsidies and other benefits for the purchase of electric vehicles. However, currently, the number of electric vehicles in countries such as India is limited. But now, according to reports, Norway has become the first country in the world where the number of electric vehicles exceeds the number of petrol vehicles.

According to vehicle registration data released by the Norwegian Road Federation, the number of electric vehicles in Norway has increased significantly. The Norwegian Road Federation said in a statement that out of the 2.8 million private passenger cars registered in the country, 7,54,303 are pure electric. There are 7,53,905 petrol cars. Apart from this, the registration of diesel-powered cars is the lowest.

This miracle happened not only in Norway, but the foundation for this success was laid several years ago. Since the early 1990s, the government and the people there realized that electric cars are the future. In this context, the Norwegian Parliament set a national goal that all new cars sold by 2025 should be zero-emission (electric or hydrogen). By the end of 2022, more than 20% of cars registered in Norway are pure electric vehicles (BEV).

The market share of battery electric vehicles in 2022 is 79.2%. Many countries in the world are implementing programs to promote the use of electric vehicles. However, in this country of 5.5 million people, the government and the public have a different understanding of electric vehicles than others. The government has launched several new programs to promote electric vehicles, which not only make buying electric vehicles affordable and convenient, but also significantly reduce daily operating costs. It provides various exemptions for this.

Taxation policy The biggest action taken to promote electric vehicles is to tax them. The Norwegian government decided to impose higher taxes on highly polluting cars and lower taxes on low-emission and zero-emission cars. From then on, electric vehicles priced up to NOK 5,00,000 (approximately Rs. 40 lakh) are exempt from VAT. Also, for vehicles priced over NOK 500,000, the 25% VAT rule applies only to the excess amount. Exemption from import tax Not only that, from 1990 to 2022, Norway imposed no purchase tax or import tax on electric vehicles. This made electric vehicles imported from abroad affordable for locals. Tesla’s electric vehicles are in great demand here. Also, local electric car manufacturers have been benefiting from car manufacturing over the years.

In addition to VAT and import taxes, Norway exempted electric cars from toll road charges from 1997 to 2017. In addition, some special discounts have been offered over the years to attract people to electric cars. People are encouraged to switch to electric cars by providing free municipal parking for electric cars and electric car lanes on bus routes. Excellent infrastructure Charging range and charging infrastructure are the main concerns of any electric car owner. But the Norwegian government has done a good job in this regard and has established a large network of electric car charging stations throughout the country. Between 2017 and 2021, legislation was introduced to establish charging rights for people living in apartment buildings. Although electric car owners charge at home every day and manage without fast charging, they say it is important to have the option of fast charging when needed.

For long-distance travel, it is important to have a good charging network. Fast charging stations are installed on all major roads in Norway. Consumers are willing to pay more for fast charging services, but initially, most areas offer free charging. It is available even for the shortest distances. More than 2,000 charging stations have been established in Oslo alone. This increased people’s confidence in electric cars and people quickly adopted them. It’s a historic moment Øyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of the Norwegian Road Federation, said it was a historic moment. He said 10 years ago not many would have thought that the number of electric cars would exceed the number of gasoline and diesel cars, adding that Norway, a major oil and gas producer, aims to sell zero-emission cars by 2025. The report showed that 94.3% of new cars registered in Norway in August last year were electric cars.