In January, the Norwegian Road Federation released a statistic that turned heads inside transportation and climate circles: Almost 90 percent of new cars sold in Norway the previous year were fully electric. By the end of this year, the government expects sales of new gasoline and diesel cars to fall to zero and meet its goal to end the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2025.
In a country known for snowcapped mountains, dramatic fjords, and the Northern Lights — and often ranked as one of the “happiest countries in the world” — gasoline-powered cars appear to be on their way to extinction.
The transition is already visible in Oslo. The capital city’s dense urban core is filled with Teslas and Volkswagen ID.4s rather than petrol hatchbacks. Charging stations are commonplace and tucked beside apartment blocks and supermarkets. Delivery vans glide past with barely a whisper. On the highways outside the capital, chargers are spaced every 30 miles or so. Even in the country’s northernmost provinces, where winters are long and temperatures... Read more
