How Norway Became the EV Capital of the World

And what other countries can learn from the Scandinavians

When it comes to electrification, there is Norway and then there’s the rest of the world.

No country has been more successful at phasing out fossil fuel-powered vehicles than the Scandinavian state. Last year, 93% of all cars sold in Norway were electric. By comparison, the United States share sat around 10%. In China, where the government has passed some of the most aggressive electrification policies, 38% of vehicles sold last year were electric.

Next year, Norway plans to stop selling gas-combustion vehicles altogether, 10 years ahead of California and the European Union, two jurisdictions that are generally held up as sustainable transportation policy leaders.

Norway’s EV success story offers lessons for other countries that want to phase out fossil fuel vehicles. More than a decade ago, policymakers in the country identified the two biggest barriers to EV adoption: upfront costs and charging infrastructure; then they waged a decades-long campaign to remove those barriers.

In today’s story we’ll look at how they did it—and what an 1980s pop band has to do with EV adoption in Norway.