Here's why Norway leads the way in EV sales with 97 percent of all cars sold electric

New data shows that globally, Norway is the country topping EV sales, with almost all new cars – a massive 97 percent – registered as electric.

Back in 2017, Norway announced plans to have 100 percent of new cars powered by electricity in 2025. 

And, with nine out of 10 vehicles sold last year being EVs, it seems the country is within touching distance of that goal. 

If it does manage to go all electric, it will become the first country in the world to do so.

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Norway is country topping EV sales for a few key reasons

We’re generally seeing an upwards trend in EV adoption around the world, with one study finding more than 70 percent of US motorists are either ‘likely’ or very ‘likely’ to go for an EV for their next car.

However, the EV rollout isn’t happening at the same pace; in the US, only around 10 percent of new cars sold were all-electric, while in China, it’s almost half. 

But Norway is the country topping EV sales and is on track to be the first all-electric country.

Currently, a staggering 97 percent of new cars sold in Norway are EVs.

There are several reasons for this. For starters, it’s one of the richest countries in the world, which means its government is able to splash out on large-scale infrastructure projects. 

Meanwhile, officials have also scrapped import tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) on EVs to encourage more folks to buy them. 

Alongside this, Norway has one of the best EV charging networks in the world. 

With fewer gas-powered vehicles on the road, many of Norway’s gas stations have been converted into fast-charging stations, and the country now has around 27,000 public fast-charging points.

That might not sound like many when you compare it to the US, but Norway’s population sits at around 5.5 million, so it works out to 400 fast chargers for every 100,000 people.

Will the rest of the world follow?

Outside of Norway, EV adoption rates are a bit hit and miss. 

So much so, some carmakers have opted to scale back their plans for electrification, such as Mercedes, which recently hit pause on its plans to be all-electric by 2030.

While it still seems likely that the future is electric, it may take a little longer than we originally thought. 

A study of US automakers found that 80 percent think EV adoption in America is going more slowly than planned and pointed towards issues such as charging infrastructure gaps, high vehicle prices, and low consumer demand.

However, a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests that EVs will take around 20 percent of all car sales in 2025 and that EV sales ‘continue to break records globally,’ particularly in China.

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