This Country Will Become The First To Have More EVs Than Gasoline Cars On Its Roads — It May Happen By End Of Year

With the rapid rise of electric vehicles, the Scandinavian country of Norway is poised to become the first nation to have more EVs than gasoline cars on its roads — and it could happen as soon as the end of this year. 

What Happened: According to a Reuters report, the number of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Norway is expected to surpass that of gasoline cars by the end of this year or early 2025. 

This transition is largely driven by Norway’s substantial oil and gas wealth, which has enabled the country to offer significant incentives for EV adoption.

According to data from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, as of March 15, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) comprised 24.3% of Norway’s 2.9 million cars, slightly behind gasoline vehicles at 26.9%, translating to a lead of nearly 76,000 for petrol cars, which is significantly lower than the 104,590 new BEVs sold in Norway last year.

Despite this shift, some analysts believe it will take a few more years for BEVs to outnumber diesel vehicles in Norway. The country, with a population of 5.5 million, aims to end the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2025. At the beginning of this year, nine out of ten new cars sold in Norway were BEVs.

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Tipping Point? If other nations follow Norway’s lead, global oil demand could peak earlier than anticipated, with cars and vans accounting for over 25% of this demand, as per the International Energy Agency.

However, Norway’s transition to EVs has come at a cost, with the country exempting BEVs from taxes imposed on internal combustion engine cars and investing in public BEV chargers.

Ingvild Kilen Roerholt, head of transport research at Oslo-based think-tank Zero, reportedly predicts that the number of BEVs could exceed petrol and diesel cars combined in Norway by 2029.

Why It Matters: Norway has been at the forefront of the EV revolution. In 2023, the country achieved an 82% electric vehicle market share, with the Tesla Model Y leading the charge. 

However, the country’s new auto tax by weight, which was introduced in 2023, threatened to disrupt the sale of battery-electric vehicles, especially in a market where Tesla is the dominant player.

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