In January this year, Norway put a near-theatrical full stop on the history of petrol cars: only seven new cars with a petrol engine were sold. In a Norwegian dealership today, they look almost like a vinyl record in the age of streaming. By the end of 2025, electric vehicles accounted for 95.9% of all new sales in the country. That is a world record and, in effect, the final chord of years of transport “greening” policy.
Experts explain January’s dip quite simply: many Norwegians rushed to buy cars in December to avoid higher taxes. But the electric shift has also moved beyond new-car showrooms and firmly established itself on the used market. Sales of used electric vehicles rose by 22.7% over the year. Now one in four used cars sold in Norway is fully electric. This is no longer about prestige, but about affordability. An electric car is becoming an option for buyers on tighter budgets.
At the heart of this transition is systematic policy. Norway introduced high taxes on carbon emissions and at the same time offered generous incentives for electric car buyers. The result was a rather elegant mechanism: not a ban, but an economic argument.
