More than 90% of the new cars sold in Norway are electric. This shift towards electric cars began with some pop stars driving around in a makeshift Fiat Panda.
Imagine this: I find myself kneeling on the snow outside the king’s house, imitating a heart-throb from the 1980s, alongside a man named Harald and an electric car. Now, let me explain this peculiar situation.
The Harald I’m with is not the king, although Norway’s king is also named Harald. We are standing outside the monarch’s residence, a beautiful red manor. I’m in Stavanger to uncover how Norway, in a world where transportation contributes around 20% of CO2 emissions, became a global leader in adopting electric cars. In 2023, a remarkable 82.4% of private vehicles sold in the country were electric. By January, this figure had soared to 92.1%, with the ambitious goal of reaching 100% by next year.
In contrast, the UK recently delayed the ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035. Only 14.7% of new cars registered in January in the UK were electric. The situation is even more challenging in the EU, where only 10.9% of cars sold in January were electric.
Now, why did I choose Stavanger? Well, besides being Norway’s oil capital – yes, you read that right – it has played a pivotal role in the country’s journey towards zero-emission transportation. Stavanger experimented with electric buses as early as 1994. In 1998, the city participated in a European trial of electric vehicles (EVs) for goods distribution. By 2009, it became the first Scandinavian city to host the biannual Electric Vehicle Symposium.
It’s also where not-the-king Harald resides – Harald Nils Røstvik, an architect turned emeritus professor of city and regional planning at the University of Stavanger. His contributions have been significant in driving Norway’s electric vehicle revolution forward.