The government proposes to freeze both the VAT limit and the one-off tax on electric cars. – They should be praised for that. It is important and good from the point of view of achieving the 2025 target, that 100 percent of new car sales should be zero emissions, says Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association. The proposal in the state budget means that electric cars that cost less than NOK 500,000 will still be exempt from VAT. – Simply embarrassed But Bu is also shocked that they are cutting the traffic insurance fee for fossil-fueled cars. – It is a very strange signal to send, because they make it cheaper for fossil cars than it is for electric cars. The traffic insurance fee is now almost NOK 1,000 lower for petrol and diesel cars than for electric cars. When it comes to the proposals for vans, Bu is very critical. – The Storting has asked the government to come up with an exemption for electric vans from the traffic insurance tax. But they don’t deliver on that. What they actually do is reduce it for fossil vans. Christina Bu, general secretary of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association. Photo: Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association She points out that only one in three vans sold is emission-free. – We are not close to reaching the goals there. It is simply embarrassing. When it comes to heavy vehicles, it appears in the state budget that they are allocating 1.2 billion to invest in electric trucks. – It is very good. Specifically, it is about the charging structure and support for purchases, says Bu. By the end of 2023, there were 689,169 electric passenger cars registered in Norway. This amounts to nearly a quarter of passenger cars, according to Statistics Norway (external link). Of first-time registered passenger cars in 2023, four out of five cars were electric. – The king of electric cars – The government should without a doubt make arrangements for it to be a good idea to buy an electric car, the king of electric cars. Stian Thu says that the advantages you got with an electric car before were a good reason why he bought that particular type of car. Stian Thu owns two electric cars. Photo: Arild Eskeland / news ROGALAND – It was the cheapest both in terms of consumption and purchase. You don’t get such a large diesel car for what an electric car cost with all the benefits, such as VAT exemption. He has been an electric car owner since 2018. – I think it is important to keep the VAT exemption, so that it makes sense to buy an electric car. It is stupid that there have been fewer benefits, if it becomes more expensive, fewer people will buy electric cars. Target for 100 percent electric new car sales by 2025 – There are marginal changes. We landed the leads here in the previous state budget. We have introduced VAT on the most expensive electric cars that are fixed. Electric car sales are going well, and that’s good, says Geir Pollestad (Sp). He points out that it is generally also cheaper to own fossil-fueled cars. Geir Pollestad, Minister of Agriculture and Food (Sp). Photo: Philip Kollstrøm / news – It is a work related to making it cheaper to own and use a car. It is to reduce people’s costs. It has been important for us to keep down the taxes on cars, because oil prices have meant that petrol and diesel prices are more than high enough. Over several years, electric car owners in Norway have received several benefits, such as free or reduced price for passing through toll rings, free or reduced price for ferries and driving in public transport lanes. Norway has set a target of 100% electric new car sales by 2025. The state budget for 2025 is due today. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news The government has set clear targets for greenhouse gas emissions (external link), and electric vehicles play an important role: New passenger cars and light vans must be zero-emission vehicles (electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles) from 2025. New city buses must be zero-emission vehicles or use biogas in 2025. By 2030, new heavier vans, 75 percent of new long-distance buses and 50 percent of new trucks must be zero-emission vehicles. By 2030, the distribution of goods in the largest city centers must be close to zero emissions. Published 07.10.2024, at 11.11 Updated 07.10.2024, at 11.29
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