Norway Became the First Country in the World to Have More Electric Cars Than Cars with Internal Combustion Engines (3 photos)

In Norway, the number of electric cars on the road has surpassed that of petrol cars. According to the Norwegian Road Federation, of the 2.8 million registered private cars, 754,303 are fully electric, while 753,905 run on petrol. The country is reportedly planning to completely phase out the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines by 2025.





Norway, with a population of 5.5 million, has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming the first region in the world to completely phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. The plan has been given credibility by the widespread introduction of tax breaks and other incentives for electric car buyers, largely financed by revenues from the oil and gas industries. Interestingly, in the early days of the green movement, Norwegian environmentalists even enlisted the help of the popular music group A-ha to raise awareness of the benefits of electric cars.



The transition to clean technology is supported by a sovereign wealth fund worth more than $1.7 trillion, which serves as a cushion in case the country's oil reserves run out. This fund is also known as a "rainy day pension fund" and includes a sales tax exemption for electric car buyers.



"Despite the progress made, Norway still has room for improvement," writes the BBC. In addition, it cannot be said that diesel cars are in the minority - there are almost a million of them. However, their sales are falling rapidly, notes the Norwegian Road Federation. According to industry data, nine out of ten new cars sold in Norway are electric cars.

Such popularity of electric cars is explained by the active support from the authorities. In particular, in many Norwegian cities, electric cars can park for free, and their owners are exempt from paying city fees. It is noteworthy that while in other countries, electric car drivers complain about the lack of charging stations, in Norway, free chargers are available in all cities - in Oslo alone there are 2,000 of them.