Volkswagen will officially say goodbye to its cars with gasoline and diesel engines. However, this ‘test’ will be reserved for a single European country where the electric car is already triumphing. Game over for cars with Volkswagen combustion engines, although, for now, only in Norway. Confirmation of this news has come from Moller Mobility Group, an importer of the brand in the Nordic country. This is part of a path that the German firm will follow in all markets, although still in several years. Norway could be the first test for a 100% electric range of vehicles for the German manufacturer.
It will be from 2024 when Volkswagen establishes a range of exclusively electric vehicles in the country of the fjords. That is, in December 2023, possible orders for thermal vehicles there will be completely closed.
Norway takes the first step
Norway has been an example to follow for most European countries in terms of the adoption of electric cars. In this market, these already represent more than 20% of the total vehicles in circulation, while 84% of the registration quota are also zero-emission models. A sales percentage that rises to 90% if the plug-in hybrid variants are included.
These numbers mean that Norway is the European country with the highest sales rate of electric cars. So much so that the state government is already considering a total ban on the sale of thermal cars starting next year 2025: ten years earlier than what is stipulated by the European Union itself. If the plans announced by Volkswagen are fulfilled, they would even be one year ahead of the legislation that could reach the country.
Volkswagen has declared a total of 102,000 electric vehicle registrations in Norway in the last decade. Among all its models, the ID.4 wins the silver medal among the best-selling vehicles; The ID.3, for its part, occupies eighth place. The first place goes to the unbeatable Tesla Model Y, which won 20% of the total market share in the region. That is, one in every five cars sold was Elon Musk‘s crossover.
But what is Norway’s secret to selling so many electric cars? The country has declared on numerous occasions a series of considerable incentives for the transition towards electric mobility in the form of tax reductions, which has meant in certain cases that electric vehicles are cheaper than their counterparts with a thermal engine. However, in recent months, the country has significantly reduced this aid to discourage private mobility in favor of public transport and bicycles. The effects this may have on the car market remains to be seen, so it could be crucial for the immediate future of Volkswagen and its proposal to eliminate gasoline cars from its Norwegian range.
