I went to Norway to see an electric vehicle paradise, but I found something more surprising
We often hear about how Norway is an electric car utopia, an example of a country that went all in on EVs and reaped the benefits. And so I went there myself to see what all the fuss was about. I expected to find a massive amount of electric cars, and I did. But what I didn’t realize was that those electric cars are only a part of the bigger story behind Norway’s sustainable transportation ambitions.
It’s true that electric cars are an important part of the story. Norway is the definitive world leader in EVs.
The country holds the title of most electric vehicles per capita and is on track to reach its goal of no more ICE vehicle sales after 2025. In fact, it’s actually ahead of schedule.
It didn’t happen overnight, but the conversion was still surprisingly quick. A decade ago, electric cars represented less than 3% of all car sales. Now they’re over 80%.
Plug-in hybrids account for more than 10% of the country’s new vehicle sales, meaning that purely ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles are now in the single digits. It’s not hard to see the writing on the wall: Those ICE-powered cars will soon go extinct in Norway.
Norway’s ability to replace pollution-spewing vehicles with emissions-free electric vehicles is impressive in its own right, but there’s so much more to this story than meets the eye as I discovered on my trip.
Check it out in my video below, showing off Norway’s transformation (and showing off how beautiful the country truly is).
So how did the country achieve such an impressive and quick transformation?
Through a process of social and economic incentives designed to make EVs more affordable and more desirable while simultaneously disincentivizing ICE-powered vehicles.
Norway provided incentives such as free tolls, free parking, and tax exemptions to promote zero-emission vehicles. Taxes on zero-emission vehicles were reduced while taxes on polluting vehicles were increased.
As EV adoption soared, the country rolled out an extensive charging network. There are more than 5,600 fast chargers stretching 1,700 km (1,050 miles) from the north of the arctic circle to the southern tip of Norway.
While most people charge their EVs at home, you can still find public Level 2 chargers and DC fast chargers all over the country. Even as I toured around the arctic circle, I could still spot plentiful chargers. In beautiful, sunny Florida, I could find myself hurting for a charger, but north of the arctic circle, Norway has so many that you might trip over them.
And that’s green electricity too. The country produces over 90% of its electricity from hydroelectric power. Nearly all of the rest comes from wind power. Norway is a leading producer of oil (which comes with its own concerns), but it’s nearly all exported.
In fact, basically every time I got in a vehicle, it was electric.
The shuttle van for the hotel was electric. The taxis were electric. The boats and ferries were electric.
The first nonelectric vehicle I found was a snowmobile, and taking a ride in that only underscored the beauty of electric vehicles. My wife and I rode tandem, and each time I stopped to check something out, we’d quickly be surrounded by a plume of exhaust that smelled horrible and ruined the scenic, snowy views. We’d get going again quickly to escape the fumes, only to no longer be able to talk to each other because the engine was so loud.
Electric snowmobiles exist, and I wish we had the chance to try them because that would have solved all our problems while still letting us enjoy the beauty of nature in winter around us.
Norway’s electric vehicle revolution should be praised and replicated, but it should also be viewed for what it is: not an end goal but rather a step in the right direction.
Even for Norway, this massive shift toward electric vehicles isn’t the final step in its sustainable transportation ecosystem.
The country has actually begun rolling back EV incentives in favor of reducing private vehicle ownership. Walking and cycling are being promoted in big cities like Oslo to help reduce the level of traffic and energy expenditure. It’s a concept that’s being embraced around the world as more urban residents realize how much cars ruin cities and rob public space from the people who live and work in those cities.
Norway has also paired policies that promote cycling and walking with a robust public transportation system.
In Oslo, we didn’t set foot in a taxi once, even though there were electric taxis readily available. Between the tram and buses, we were able to get everywhere we needed to go using public transit.
Electric scooters and e-bikes were also plentiful thanks to several shared micromobility companies. My wife wasn’t as keen on scooting in the ice and snow, so we skipped those options, but I might have tried it if I was alone.
And when it’s not the coldest few months of the year, those options certainly add to the vibrant alternative transportation ecosystem thriving in Norwegian cities. (To be fair, we saw plenty of Norwegians out on scooters and bikes, despite the freezing conditions.)
All of this is to say that despite coming to Norway to see an electric car utopia, we ended up discovering firsthand how much more there is to the country’s story of sustainability.
Electric cars were a crucial first step to flush out all of those polluting, gas-guzzling ICE vehicles. But that’s exactly what they were: a step. They weren’t the end goal; they were a step along the way.
The true end goal is a sustainable transportation landscape that truly serves the people in the form of diverse, efficient, and environmentally conscious options. Electric cars are part of that solution, but so are the electric trams and the efficient trains and even cycling/walking/scootering.
And all of this is happening in a country that is so cold that I was walking around with ice on my face without even noticing. If it can work there, it can work here. Wherever here is.
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Founded in 1689, Husqvarna was a musket maker for the king of Sweden – but now, the company best known for quirky motorcycles and commercial riding mowers is becoming an innovator in the field of robotics, and its latest fleet of electric autonomous mowers are eager to get grazing.
Husqvarna’s autonomous lawnmowers made history earlier this year at the AIG Women’s Open, when they became the first autonomous groundskeeping solution to see duty during a UK Major golf week.
“At the AIG Women’s Open, the Husqvarna portfolio is helping us deliver this goal through improved resource management, regular lightweight mowing and reduced carbon usage,” explains Royal Porthcawl’s Course Manager, Ian Kinley, who has championed the use of robotic technology at the course. “With the AIG Women’s Open set to be the largest-ever women’s sporting event in Wales, we know there’s tremendous pressure to produce playing surfaces that are worthy of such a high-profile event.”
The robots themselves operate a bit differently than Husqvarna’s traditional line of big, bad, zero-turn riding mowers that whip through thick grass once or twice a month with heavy, whirling blades. Instead, they employ a series of tiny razor blades that gently nibble at the grass daily – just like little electric sheep grazing on the turf.
“That cutting system, developed by Husqvarna engineers, has then become the basis for the entire robot mower industry, of which we’re the market leader,” Nick Rawson, VP of Strategy and Business Development at Husqvarna told Forbes.
Events like the AIG Women’s Open are proving that the little robot Huskies can get the job done quietly, sustainably, and with significantly less operator input. As such, you’d think everyone at Husqvarna would be excited about them.
You’d be wrong. The company’s franchise dealers have been hesitant to push them forward, effectively putting the parent company in the position of going B2C, or going home.
“Dealers live and breathe the previous technology,” said Yvette Henshall-Bell, Husqvarna’s President of its Forest and Garden division for Europe, in that same Forbes piece. “They want to protect that servicing, that aftermarket revenue. Whereas if they really thought about what the customer’s problems are and the job to be done, they would be looking at a completely different solution.”
A solution, frankly, that looks a lot like a little robot mower.
The things, themselves
Husqvarna offers three types of autonomous electric mowers aimed at commercial golf courses, but the Husqvarna CEORA for large-area mowing, and Husqvarna Automower, for smaller, steeper and more complex areas, are the models relevant to this story.
The bigger CEORA can handle up to 18 acres of ground twice each week, while the Automower, with its 80V battery and pinpoint precision EPOS (Exact Positioning Operating System) software, can handle another 2.5 acres. Both are fully electric, and can guide themselves back to their pens to recharge as needed.
Prices aren’t public, but the Husqvarna CEORA and Automowers are available as part of a custom lease package through Husqvarna Finance that will include access to the company’s customizable back end and ongoing support. Check with your local dealer for more.
Electrek’s Take
As a typically pro-union, pro-labor type of guy, I am hesitant to heap praise upon a robot taking away anyone’s job. That said, it does seem to be difficult for landscapers and construction crews to keep and find good labor at rates they can afford (and, let’s face it – the current Trump Administration isn’t going to be making that any easier). As such, if companies like Husqvarna and John Deere and Einride and others can build a demonstrably better mousetrap at a compelling price point … good for them. (?)
Let us know what you think in the comments.
SOURCES: Forbes, Golf Monthly; images by Husqvarna.
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Environment
Podcast: Apple CarPlay in Tesla cars, VW on Superchargers, Toyota electric pickup, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Apple CarPlay possibly coming to Tesla cars, VW getting access to Superchargers, a Toyota electric pickup, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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US EV sales declined in October following the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit on September 30, and the average transaction price (ATP) edged up, according to initial estimates from Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand. However, there are still deals to be had.
Kelley Blue Book’s initial estimates show that US EV sales fell to 74,835 in October, down 48.9% from September, which was a record month, and 30.3% year-over-year.
Prices also ticked up. The average transaction price (ATP) for a new EV climbed 1.6% month-over-month to $59,125, which is 2.3% higher than a year ago.
Tesla didn’t escape the downturn, but it held up better than the overall EV market. The company’s ATP fell 1.1% from September to $53,526, and its prices are 5.5% lower than they were in October 2024. Sales of the Model 3 and Model Y both declined month-over-month, and overall Tesla sales decreased by 35.3% from September and 23.6% year-over-year, which are smaller declines compared to the broader EV segment.
Cox Automotive senior analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty said the shift wasn’t surprising:
We expected this shift in the electric vehicle market. With the IRA-backed sales incentives gone, lower-cost EV volume was hit hard, pushing the mix toward more luxury and driving October’s EV ATP to a 2025 high of $59,125 – now $9,359 above the industry average. Affordability has always been the core challenge with EV sales, and this reset only underscores how critical it is to bring more attainable EV options to market.
Electrek’s Take
September was a record-breaking month for both EV deals and sales. Dealers were offering all sorts of sweet incentives to stack with the federal tax credit to move cars off the lot. October’s sales drop was entirely anticipated, like a pounding headache after a big blowout party.
We didn’t know what the post-federal tax credit EV market would look like. As Valdez Streaty rightly states, EVs do have a higher ATP than the industry average. But it turns out that, so far, it’s not all doom and gloom, and the federal tax credit isn’t the only incentive in town.
Every month, I compile great EV lease deals, and for the last few months, some EVs’ monthly lease payments have been cheaper than before the federal tax credit expired. Many states are still offering rebates on EV purchases, and dealers still have really good deals. While cheaper models would definitely be welcome, there are good deals available right now.
And let’s not forget the fact that EVs are much cheaper to drive than gas cars, with or without that tax credit.
Read more: From $189 a month: 5 of the best EV lease deals in November [Updated]
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