Norway has been a staunch supporter of the EV revolution for more than a decade. At various times, it has boosted the sale of electric cars not with direct subsidies but with indirect inducements. Starting in 1990, any EV was exempt from import duties. From 2001 to 2022, they were also exempt from paying the VAT that applies to the purchase price of all other cars. The VAT can be as high as 25%, so exempting electric cars from paying it is a huge financial benefit to EV buyers.
If incentives like the exemption from paying import duties and VAT disappear, sales should go down, right? That seems logical, but the theory of the S curve posits something quite the opposite. Once a new technology goes mainstream, there is no need for incentives any more. Market acceptance will continue to grow without them. LED light bulbs are a good example. And in fact the latest sales data from Norway shows EV sales continue to grow month after month.
However, an unusually high number of new cars with diesel engines were registered in April , giving diesel a market share of 3.2%.explains that in a pure import market like Norway, one-off effects can play an important role. For example, when a shipload of new cars arrives, the registrations of certain models or manufacturers can go up sharply in that month.Here’s a bit of a shocker, one that should give Elon Musk pause.