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oil-rich norway has become a veritable electric car powerhouse, with the country's vehicle electrification rate leading the world.

the number of electric cars on the road in norway has surpassed that of gasoline-powered cars, according to the latest vehicle registration data released by the norwegian road federation (ofv) on tuesday.

it is worth noting that norway is the first country in the world to achieve this milestone (the number of electric vehicles exceeds that of gasoline vehicles).

data shows that norway has 2.8 million registered passenger cars, of which 754,303 are electric vehicles, 753,905 are gasoline vehicles, and nearly 1 million are diesel vehicles.

"this is historic. few could have foreseen this milestone a decade ago," said oyvind solberg thorsen, head of the norwegian road federation. "passenger car electrification is advancing rapidly and norway is quickly becoming the first country in the world where the passenger car fleet is dominated by electric vehicles."

despite being a major oil and gas producer, norway has set an ambitious goal to sell only zero-emission cars by 2025, 10 years ahead of the european union.

electric car sales are growing in norway, driven by government incentives and tax breaks. according to data released earlier this month, electric cars accounted for 94% of the local market share in august, setting a new world record.

while electric car owners in many countries complain about the lack of charging facilities, in norway there are plenty of free charging stations in every town, with 2,000 in the capital oslo alone.

in addition, allowing private electric vehicles to use bus lanes and parking subsidies have also driven a surge in electric vehicle sales in the country.

globally, according to the international energy agency (iea), 14 million new electric vehicles were registered worldwide in 2023. last year, electric vehicles accounted for about 18% of all cars, up from 14% in 2022. in 2018, the proportion was only 2%.

(source: cailianshe)