Norway's government has dropped a proposal to introduce tolls, also known as road pricing. However, several Danish cities continue to work with the idea.
The government in Norway has decided to drop plans to introduce a road tax for electric cars. This means that owners of electric cars in Norway will continue to be exempt from paying for the use of the roads, in contrast to owners of petrol and diesel cars, who pay road tax through taxes on fuel.
The decision to drop the road tax for electric cars comes after a working group set up by the previous government in 2021 proposed a new scheme where electric cars would have to pay road tax based on the number of short kilometers.
– We want to stop that project, says Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum to the NTB news agency.
Vedum justifies the decision with the fact that an increasing number of Norwegians own electric cars and that many depend on their car in everyday life. He believes that it would be unfair to introduce a new and comprehensive tax system that affects a large part of the population.
– Those who bought electric cars first were many of those with the strongest economy. Now there is a much wider group buying the cars. And people in Norway are completely dependent on the car. Then we will not roll out such a large new system, says Vedum.
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The Norwegian finance minister acknowledges that the state is missing out on revenue by exempting electric cars from road tax. But he still believes that it is the right decision.
– We do, and it has been an assessment we have made. So the tax revenue from car traffic in Norway will fall, says the finance minister.
In Denmark, road pricing is still on the agenda in several cities, especially in Jutland, where the vast majority have plans to introduce road tolls to limit car traffic.
While Norway is dropping plans for a road tax for electric cars, it seems that Danish car owners – including electric car owners – can expect to have to pay to use the roads in the future. Read more about it here .
Read more exciting news from and about the world of cars right here!
