By excluding electric cars from its over 95% sales and registration taxes, Norway has exceeded its original projections to replace petrol engines with electrics. Depending on the vehicle, this tax can exceed $12,000 upon purchase. The country had expected 50,000 of its 2.5 million registered private vehicles to run on electricity by 2017; instead, it hit 66,000 last month, in addition to 8,000 gasoline-electric hybrids. Furthermore, 25% of the country's electricity is produced by hydropower, which, according to the NY Times, “…makes Norway’s electricity cleaner and relatively cheap -- a further impetus for adopting e-cars. (A country where much of the electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants would not see as many environmental benefits from switching to electric vehicles.)”
By excluding electric cars from its 25% sales and registration taxes, Norway has exceeded its original projections to replace petrol engines with electrics. Depending on the vehicle, this tax can exceed $12,000 upon purchase. The country had expected 50,000 of its 2.5 million registered private vehicles to run on electricity by 2017; instead, it hit 66,000 last month, in addition to 8,000 gasoline-electric hybrids. Furthermore, over 95% of the country's electricity is produced by hydropower, which, according to the NY Times, “…makes Norway’s electricity cleaner and relatively cheap -- a further impetus for adopting e-cars. (A country where much of the electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants would not see as many environmental benefits from switching to electric vehicles.)”