The Hook: The Internal Combustion Engine is Dead (In Norway)
It’s official. If you buy a gas car in Norway today, you are a statistical anomaly. You are the 2.4%.
In November 2025, Norway hit a historic milestone that seemed impossible just a decade ago: 97.6% of all new passenger cars registered were fully electric. Out of 19,899 new cars hitting the road, 19,427 were battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
This isn’t just a blip. It’s the endgame. The year-to-date figures for 2025 show a 95.2% market share for EVs, up from 88.8% in 2024. While the rest of the world debates mandates and charging infrastructure, Norway has already crossed the finish line.
Technical Analysis: How They Did It
Norway’s success wasn’t magic; it was a masterclass in policy and infrastructure.
The Policy Stack
The “Norwegian Model” relies on a simple principle: make the green choice the cheap choice.
- Tax Exemptions: For years, EVs were exempt from the heavy purchase taxes and 25% VAT applied to fossil fuel cars. While some VAT has been reintroduced for high-end EVs, the price gap remains decisive.
- Usage Incentives: EV drivers enjoy discounted road tolls (often 50% off), access to bus lanes, and reduced ferry fares.
- The “Polluter Pays”: High taxes on gas and diesel cars effectively cross-subsidize the EV incentives.
The Infrastructure
You can’t sell EVs if people can’t charge them. Norway has one of the densest charging networks in the world. From Oslo to the Arctic Circle, fast chargers are ubiquitous. The anxiety of “running out of juice” has largely evaporated from the national psyche.
Context: A Lonely Leader
To understand the scale of this achievement, you have to look at the neighbors.
- European Union: The EU average for BEV market share hovers around 16.4% in 2025.
- United States: While growing, the US is still in the single digits or low teens depending on the state.
Norway is effectively living in the future—about 10 to 15 years ahead of the global average. They are the test case for what happens when a grid goes fully electric. The result? Cleaner air, quieter cities, and a grid that—contrary to skeptics’ fears—has not collapsed.
Impact: What This Means for You
Why should you care about a small Scandinavian country? Because Norway is the crystal ball for the global auto industry.
- Legacy Auto is in Trouble: If you are an automaker without a compelling EV lineup, you simply cannot exist in a mature market. In Norway, brands that dragged their feet have vanished from the leaderboards.
- The Resale Cliff: The value of used gas cars in Norway is plummeting. Who wants to buy a piece of obsolete technology that is expensive to fuel and tax? This “asset stranding” is a risk for gas car owners globally as EV adoption rises.
- Cold Weather Myth Busted: Norway is cold. Very cold. Yet, EVs dominate. The argument that “EVs don’t work in winter” has been empirically disproven by millions of Norwegian kilometers driven in sub-zero temperatures.
Buying Advice
If you are looking to join the revolution (wherever you are), take a page from the Norwegian playbook. The best-sellers in Norway are often the most practical, winter-ready EVs.
- Tesla Model Y: Consistently the best-selling car in Norway. It handles winter well, has great range, and the Supercharger network is unmatched.
- Volvo EX30/EX90: Built for Nordic winters, these are becoming staples on Norwegian roads.
- Volkswagen ID.4/ID.7: Solid, reliable choices that have found a strong foothold in the market.
The Verdict: The age of the gas car is over. Norway just turned out the lights.
🦋 Discussion on Bluesky
Discuss on Bluesky