Norway

Major Developments in 2022

The biggest development in 2022 was that the number of battery electric passenger vehicles in the fleet passed 600,000, equivalent to 20% of the total fleet with another 7% being PHEVs. 27% of all passenger vehicles had thus a plug and could use grid electricity fully or partially. The BEV market share reached a new high of 78% with PHEVs constituting another 6%. It was the first year of significant sales of battery electric trucks, which came after the large OEM truck producers started series production. The access to ultra-fast chargers increased significantly during 2022 after Tesla opened most of their Supercharger network to all BEV owners. The fast charger ecosystem is fragmented and inconvenient for users.

New policies, legislation, incentives, funding, research, and taxation

Several large policy revisions were suggested in the national budget documents for 2023 and agreed upon in the Parliament. The overall target was to preserve and regain lost tax revenue from vehicle sales and use, and to protect toll road projects from running into financial difficulties as the BEV share of the fleet continues to rise. The changes are:

• A new weight-based registration tax element on each kg above 500kg was introduced for ICEVs and BEVs, including small light commercial vehicles and minibuses. It hits BEVs harder than ICEVs.
• BEVs with a purchase price below 500,000 NOK will still have a zero Value Added Tax (VAT). VAT (25%) will apply on the part of the sum that is above 500,000 NOK for more expensive BEVs. This scheme will continue until 2025.
• BEVs can now be levied up to 70% of the road toll rate of ICEVs, up from the 50% that has been the rule since 2018.
• The re-registration tax incentive and the company car benefit tax reduction incentive were both removed.

Outlook

The removal of some incentives, reduction of others, the new weight tax on all vehicles, and the large number of BEV registrations just before 1 January 2023, may affect 2023 BEV sales negatively. In 2023, Oslo will become a city where all city buses will be battery electric. The market share for battery electric trucks should increase due to the increased availability of series produced trucks from several of the large OEMs, and interest from the truck operators. A new ENOVA funding program provide support for depot chargers for trucks, which previously was only available for open access chargers outside depots. Large orders of battery electric buses for Oslo and elsewhere will be delivered during 2023 so their market share will also be high in 2023.