GM Hypes Norway's EV Leadership

Jason R. Sakurai
by Jason R. Sakurai

Actor Will Farrell describes Norway’s EV leadership in one of the more amusing Super Bowl commercials, and how General Motors is looking to change all that here at home.

According to a Forbes.com article, in March 2019 almost 60 percent of new cars sold in Norway were electric vehicles (EV), in a country bent on stopping the sale of fossil-fueled vehicles by 2025. While unit sales of EVs are higher in China and the U.S., the percentage of EVs in Norway is higher than anywhere else in the world.

The reasons are numerous, not the least of which is Norway’s domestic hydroelectric production. With almost all their electricity coming from a renewable source, it’s easier and infinitely less expensive than it would be for a conversion to occur here. Add the financial incentives and charging infrastructure the Norwegian government has put in place, and it’s a near-perfect scenario you likely won’t see happening in the U.S. anytime soon.

Lowered road taxes, removal of toll road and ferry charges, and free parking were among the benefits of EV ownership in Norway as far back as 1990. A 25 percent sales tax on new EVs was lifted in 2001, and you could drive your EV in the bus lane starting in 2005. While the government started building charging stations, now private enterprise has taken over, and there’s even overseas interest in their construction and operation. All this for a country of 5 million Norwegians, or about the size of South Carolina, our 23rd most populated state.

Working with such a small base, it’s understandable why the government reached its goal of 50,000 zero-emission vehicles in operation three years earlier than they had anticipated. The used-car market in Norway remains gas-powered, so incentives for EV ownership are seen as nothing more than tax cuts for the wealthy. Many Norwegians argue it’s doing nothing to take gas-fueled vehicles off the road, but what would you expect in a country obsessed with electric-powered technology, in aircraft, boats, and other sectors?

You only need to look at Norway’s neighbor, Sweden, to see the folly in attempting to replicate what was done there. In 2010, Sweden had more new EV registrations than Norway. Today, Norway’s EV numbers are ten times that of Sweden. Why? The demand for electricity in cities increased faster than the availability of kW hours, especially in Stockholm, the capital. Just as they are recommending here, power companies and EV advocacy groups want to incentivize EV owners to charge only during off-peak hours so as not to overtax our power grid. Fascinating, no?

[Images: General Motors]

Jason R. Sakurai
Jason R. Sakurai

With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.

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  • Ralahamy Ralahamy on Feb 11, 2021

    Barron's Article today "Electric Vehicles Were a Nonstarter—Until Tesla Came Along".

    • See 1 previous
    • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Feb 12, 2021

      Dear Barrons, Still are and likely well remain, which is why technocrats and tyrants will continue attack the competition. Because the message is clear: the beatings will continue until morale improves. Thanks, 28

  • Jdmcomp Jdmcomp on Feb 12, 2021

    The idea of a oil rich country claiming to be green is a laugh. The oil they are selling and funding the EV program with will be used by others and Norway will be affected by it. And using government power to force a solution on its population goes against the grain for most. Norway is a very small country (5 mil), and what ever it does is not a model for the rest of the world. One only has to look at the mental illness rate and suicide rate to wonder what is going on.

    • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Feb 12, 2021

      Well put. "The idea of a oil rich country claiming to be green is a laugh." Saudi Arabia will be the next to claim this :D

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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