If the internal-combustion engine had a natural predator, it wouldn’t be lithium or silicon—it would be Norway’s tax code.
In 2025, Norway didn’t just continue its electric-car experiment; it all but finished the job. Nearly 96 percent of all new cars registered were fully electric, up from an already eyebrow-raising 88.9 percent the year before. By December, that number flirted with 98 percent, a figure that would sound like science fiction anywhere else in Europe. And this wasn’t a shrinking market limping toward electrification—total new-car registrations jumped 40 percent, reaching 179,549 vehicles.
This wasn’t an accident. It was a deadline.
Buy Now, or Pay Later
The surge came as buyers raced ahead of a tax reckoning. In October, the Norwegian government announced that new tax increases would arrive in January 2026, and the market reacted instantly. Shoppers didn’t wait around—they bought electric, and they bought now.
Under current rules, electric cars priced below 300,000 Norwegian kroner (about €25,300) will remain exempt from value-added tax even after 2026. That carve-out is the golden ticket. Below that price line, EVs aren’t just competitive—they’re the obvious choice. Above it, the math gets harsher, but it’s still far kinder than what internal-combustion vehicles face.
Gas and diesel cars, meanwhile, are buried under duties so heavy they might as well come with a warning label. In Norway, buying an ICE vehicle isn’t just old-fashioned—it’s financially self-sabotaging.
Automakers Follow the Money
Manufacturers saw the wave coming and scrambled to surf it. Supply increased as automakers diverted inventory to Norway to capitalize on demand. As Ford Norway director Per Gunnar Berg put it bluntly, vehicles not originally intended for the country were rerouted “as soon as possible” to meet appetite.
And who benefited most? No surprises here.
For the fifth straight year, Tesla topped the sales charts, grabbing 19.1 percent of the market. Volkswagen followed with 13.3 percent, and Volvo landed at 7.8 percent. But the real story may be China’s quiet advance: vehicles built there now command 13.7 percent of the Norwegian market, up from 10.4 percent a year earlier. BYD, in particular, more than doubled its sales, proving that Norway’s EV transition isn’t just reshaping powertrains—it’s reshaping brand hierarchies.
The Carrot Is Nice. The Stick Is Better.
Norway’s transformation stands in sharp contrast to the rest of Europe, where EV adoption continues at a slower, more cautious pace. The difference isn’t infrastructure or consumer enthusiasm alone—it’s policy philosophy.
According to Christina Bu, director of the Norwegian Association for Electric Cars, convenience isn’t the whole story. Incentives matter, yes—but so does pressure. The country didn’t just make electric cars easier to buy; it made gasoline cars harder to justify. High levies, rising ownership costs, and shrinking advantages have steadily squeezed combustion engines out of relevance.
In other words, Norway didn’t politely invite EVs in. It showed gas cars the door.
The Endgame Is Already Here
There’s a delicious irony in all of this: Norway, one of Europe’s most significant oil producers, is also the continent’s most successful EV market. It turns out that when the rules are clear, consistent, and unapologetically tilted toward the future, consumers adapt fast.
Norway didn’t wait for the market to “naturally” transition. It engineered the outcome—and now the gas car is functionally extinct.
The rest of Europe is still debating. Norway already moved on.
Source: Reuters; Photo: EPA-EFE