evee Central

Driving Across Norway, the Most Electric Car–Friendly Country in the World

The perfectly maintained Norwegian highways are full of shiny new electric cars: Teslas, Audis Q4s, and Volkswagen ID.4s are everywhere. In 2022, almost 80 percent of new cars purchased in Norway were emission-free. This is due to a collective sustainable mindset, as well as tax breaks for cleaner vehicles and high fossil fuel taxes. Beyond the roads, meanwhile, the move to electric transportation is evident across the country, including electric boats, ferries, and even mopeds.

Almost 900 miles south, in Brussels in mid-April, our family of three was considering getting an electric vehicle, and what better place to put the experience to the test than Norway, especially with a five year old in tow? Given the advanced infrastructure for electric cars, it would be the perfect place to take notes on the experience. We decided to drive across Norway from Oslo to Bergen, then north through the western coast fjords to Ålesund to meet a friend who lives there, and then back to Oslo. Each leg of that trip was on average 250–300 miles, above the 200-mile range of our rental car, so the journey required a little extra planning.