Electric car sales +15% compared to 2021
(sustainabilityenvironment.com) – Every five cars registered, four are electric. It is the new EV sales record reached by Norway in 2022: as many as 79.3% of new vehicles introduced on the road in the last 12 months is zero emissions. The Scandinavian country is world champion in the spread of electric mobility and last year it managed to make a very substantial leap forward. Compared to 2021, in fact, the share of electric vehicles has grown by almost 15%. More than 20% of vehicles circulating in the country are battery operated.
This is what emerges from the data released by the Norvegian Road Federation recently. With the new EV sales record, therefore, the abyss that separates Oslo from Europe in terms of electric mobility widens. In the EU, new battery vehicle registrations stopped at 8.9% of the total in the first nine months of the year.
EV sales record, but since 2023 Norway takes away many incentives
What is the reason for Norway’s excellent performance over the past year? Especially a generous and intelligent incentive policy. Throughout 2022, as well as in previous years, you could count on total tax exemption when buying an electric vehicle. The system has been in place since 2001 and is based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle applied in a progressive way: the most polluting and expensive vehicles pay more taxes, those with lower CO2 content per km and cheaper pay less.
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Until 31 December 2022, the EVs were exempt from paying 25% VAT. If in the beginning this measure paid for itself -the revenues from the most polluting cars covered the hole in the sale of EV- in recent years the State has had to put resources to support the incentives. In 2022, calculated by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the cost to the state came to 3.7 billion euros.
From 1 January this incentive changes. Also EVs will start paying at least part of the VAT. The exemption will concern only a list price up to 500 thousand Norwegian crowns (about 46,700 euros), on all the excess will apply the tax. The exemption from the import tax, based on the weight of the vehicle, will also be removed. Other incentives for EVs remain, such as discounts of up to 50% for road tolls and ferries.