A rebellion led by A-ha frontman Morten Harket led to Norway’s push for electric cars
Fabrice COFFRINI
This was prompted by a civil disobedience campaign in the 1990s by environmental activist Frederic Hauge, co-founder of the NGO Bellona, and Morten Harket, the singer of iconic Norwegian pop group A-ha — famous for the hit “Take On Me”.
Travelling around in a small Fiat Panda — converted to be electric — the two men stubbornly racked up a mountain of fines which they refused to pay in an effort to promote zero-emission vehicles.
Their trusty car was finally seized, but a few years later authorities ended up granting electric vehicles, which were still rare at the time, the special privileges.
“I didn’t feel like I was entering into the role of a rebel really,” Harket told the BBC in 2022.
“It was just necessary.”
In 2005, the government also allowed electric cars to use lanes reserved for public transport — thus enabling them to avoid traffic jams.
These benefits have eroded somewhat since, but in the meantime electric cars have become the norm in the Scandinavian country.
Over the past decade, technology and car ranges have also evolved along with the development of a vast network of charging stations.
In September, the number of electric cars on Norwegian roads exceeded that of petrol cars for the first time and they are hot on the heels of diesel cars — which are still the country’s most popular vehicles.
Since November 1, all taxis in Oslo have had to be emissions-free.
German carmaker Volkswagen, the top brand in Norway, delivered its last internal combustion car, a Golf, to Norway in July.
“Since January 1, we have removed all fossil-fuelled cars from our catalogue,” Kim Clemetsen, head of marketing at a dealership that imports the brand, said.
“We now only sell electric cars.”
Other brands, such as Toyota, are resisting the push and are planning to continue to offer hybrid cars and even combustion engines in 2025.
Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, a staunch defender of rural interests, has also thrown a spanner in the works by saying that it is “not a problem at all” if “a few” combustion-powered vehicles are still sold next year.
Norway was ‘not a likely’ contender to go electric, says Christina Bu of its EV trade association
Jonathan NACKSTRAND
But if current trends hold, the country should come very close to achieving its ambition of 100 percent zero-emissions vehicles.
Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, thinks this should be encouraging to other countries aiming to phase out combustion engines.
“Norway was in many ways not a very likely country to succeed with this: it’s a big country, long distances, very cold temperatures in winter, which affects the range of the car,” Bu told AFP.
“So there’s not really any reason why Norway should succeed rather than another country.”
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Publish date : 2024-11-04 15:59:00
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