Norway's electric vehicle revolution

As with the first iteration of the programme, the rebate is not open-ended, but available only until the funds set aside for the programme are exhausted. [...] Norway, however, has the highest market penetration for EVs in the world, with the EV market share hitting a high-watermark of 26.5 percent of new vehicle sales in the month of March, 20155 (20% battery electric; 6.5% hybrid) and more than 20 percent consistently since January, 2015. [...] In 2013, the daily Budstikka newspaper tested how long it took to get to work in the morning rush hour from a suburb near Oslo Airport to a borough in the west of the city, comparing travel times for conventional and elec- tric vehicles. [...] Due to EV access to bus lanes, the former took 51 minutes and the latter 19 minutes.15 Norwegian analysts are convinced it is the perks rather than the tax incentives that have been most critical to the country’s EV revolution. [...] However, as of March 2015, the country was home to 52,865 plug-in electric vehicles (49,296 all-electric and 3,569 plug-in hybrids), according to Grønn Bil (Norwegian for “Green Car”), hitting the target three years ahead of schedule (indeed, by September the figure had grown to 74,282)17 As a result of the premature success, in May, the government overhauled its policies.