Norway’s electric vehicle revolution has reached a striking new milestone: just seven new petrol-powered cars were sold across the entire country in January.
According to the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), 2,218 new passenger cars were registered during the month, with fully electric vehicles accounting for an extraordinary 94 per cent of sales. Diesel models made up only 98 registrations, while petrol cars — once the backbone of the market – fell to a record-low seven units.
While January’s overall sales were unusually weak due to a rush of registrations before new tax rules at the end of 2025, the fuel mix tells the real story: Norway’s transition away from fossil-fuel cars is now effectively complete in the new-car market.
A decade of deliberate policy
This did not happen overnight. Norway has spent years building what is arguably the world’s most successful electric vehicle ecosystem through consistent political choices: tax exemptions, road-toll reductions, access to bus lanes, extensive charging infrastructure and long-term regulatory certainty.
The results are cumulative. In 2025, electric vehicles made up 95.9 per cent of all new car sales in the country, meaning combustion-engine cars were already close to disappearing from showrooms.
Electric cars have also overtaken diesel models to become the largest single powertrain in Norway’s total vehicle fleet – a remarkable shift given that internal combustion dominated just a decade ago.
Even the used-car market is following suit. Nearly three in ten second-hand vehicles sold are now electric, a sign that electrification is moving beyond affluent early adopters and into the mainstream.
The network effect
One reason Norway’s transition has accelerated so rapidly is the “network effect” of electrification. As more drivers switch, the incentives grow stronger: charging infrastructure expands, resale markets mature, mechanics gain expertise and public confidence increases. Eventually, the default choice simply becomes electric.
This is now visible in purchasing behaviour. Consumers are prioritising total cost of ownership – where EVs often win decisively in Norway thanks to policy design – rather than upfront sticker price alone.
Lessons for the UK
For Britain, the Norwegian example offers both inspiration and a warning.
The UK has ambitious targets to phase out new petrol and diesel cars, but policy consistency has been weaker, with incentives reduced and timelines debated. Norway demonstrates that markets move fastest when governments provide long-term certainty rather than stop-start signals.
Perhaps the most important lesson is psychological. Once electric vehicles become normal, not novel, adoption accelerates dramatically. Norway has reached that tipping point. Seven petrol cars in a month is not just a statistic; it is evidence of a technological transition that, in the right conditions, can happen far faster than many policymakers assume.
The question is no longer whether the shift to electric will happen elsewhere – but how quickly governments choose to make it happen.