Currently reading: Norway to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2025
Government targets sale of only zero or low emission models with 'polluter pays' principle

Norway wants to phase out sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2025 using a ‘polluter pays’ tax system, designed to incentivise the purchase of low and zero emission vehicles.

In a report published onto the country’s sustainable transport site Elbil, the Norwegian government said targets to grow sales of low and zero emission vehicles to represent 100% of the new car market were feasible "with the right policy measures".

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It said the introduction of a strengthened green tax system would encourage people to opt for clean transport over fossil fuel-powered vehicles, but that its policies would never amount to a ban on petrol and diesel.

Leased EV models are already tax exempt in Norway and electric cars are allowed to use the country's bus lanes, as well as toll roads and ferries free of charge. Conversely, fossil fuel cars will be subject to charges to use these depending on their CO2 and NOX outputs.

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Norway has set ambitious targets to meet the European Clean Power for Transport directive, which recommends that there should be one public available charging point for every 10 electric cars by 2020.

Electric car sales represented 22% of Norway’s market in 2015, and it expects that number to grow to 30% within the next three years. That would bring the number of electric cars running in Norway to 250,000, meaning the country will have to have 25,000 public charging points.

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benanderson89 28 February 2017

Electric is not the future

Whilst I'm all for cleaner alternatives, Electric simply isn't the way forward in its present state. For a start, the pollution created from the creation of the batteries alone is astronomical. The lifespan is so laughably short compared to a petrol engine (where batteries need replacements after 5-ish years and an engine will run for decades at a time), the next big problem will be battery disposal. In the European Paper "Science for Environmental Policy", it ranked Lithium Ion batteries second only to Nickle Metal Hydride batteries (Prius) as some of the absolute worst polluters. The paper found that only 9% (and that figure is being optimistic) of a battery can be recycled in developed nations. The rest of the battery, including heavy elements like Nickle and Cobalt, are destined for the landfill to seep into the ground and cause other forms of serious environmental havoc. We need more research into Nano Flow-Cell and/or graphene. What is ironic is that Norway is working on a Blue Crude facility that will manufacture 100,000L of synthetic petrol per year for, you guessed it, Combustion Engines. Granted, Blue Crude derived fuels in an engine can reduce pollution by up-to 80% as the vast majority of the nasty stuff in tail pipe emissions are left over from the crude oil itself (its why crude oil is black, after all). It'll be interesting to see how all of this develops. From what I've read elsewhere, many people in Norway are not happy about this.
bowsersheepdog 2 March 2017

[quote=benanderson89]Whilst I

benanderson89 wrote:
Whilst I'm all for cleaner alternatives, Electric simply isn't the way forward in its present state. For a start, the pollution created from the creation of the batteries alone is astronomical. The lifespan is so laughably short compared to a petrol engine (where batteries need replacements after 5-ish years and an engine will run for decades at a time), the next big problem will be battery disposal. In the European Paper "Science for Environmental Policy", it ranked Lithium Ion batteries second only to Nickle Metal Hydride batteries (Prius) as some of the absolute worst polluters. The paper found that only 9% (and that figure is being optimistic) of a battery can be recycled in developed nations. The rest of the battery, including heavy elements like Nickle and Cobalt, are destined for the landfill to seep into the ground and cause other forms of serious environmental havoc. We need more research into Nano Flow-Cell and/or graphene. What is ironic is that Norway is working on a Blue Crude facility that will manufacture 100,000L of synthetic petrol per year for, you guessed it, Combustion Engines. Granted, Blue Crude derived fuels in an engine can reduce pollution by up-to 80% as the vast majority of the nasty stuff in tail pipe emissions are left over from the crude oil itself (its why crude oil is black, after all). It'll be interesting to see how all of this develops. From what I've read elsewhere, many people in Norway are not happy about this.
You're utterly correct, of course. Add in the inconvenience and impracticality of electric cars and they are an absolute no-go for the sensible majority who realize their uselessness. Only a few self-deceiving fanatics think they have any sort of long-term future. Electric cars are going nowhere.
yvesferrer 28 February 2017

Norway's electricity?

looking at the geography of that country and also at the size of its car population, it makes total sense to go that way! Trying to emulate this action in the UK is utopian at present; even by 2025 the number of charging points will be well below the viable minimum for the proposed/wishful numbers of EVs! Something has to give in people's perceptions of the electric car: in SOME circumstances, it is good; in OTHER circumstances, it is a non-starter (no pun intended!). Back to the drawing board, lads...
Peter Cavellini 28 February 2017

Norway.......!!!!!!

Yes, i'm all for it,but,in eight years?,a bit quick?,can it really be done in that time frame?,all the major Cities in the UK need to look at this,an online petition to Governments to start looking into this,today's Children in Cities at least are having there lungs filled with noxious fumes,we as Parents should be saying something about this.