At the beginning of this year, a statistic was published that speaks loud and clear about what’s happening in Norway, 95.9% of cars sold in 2025 will be electric. In absolute numbers, we're talking about 179,549 vehicles, almost all of them without exhaust pipes. This isn't a future promise or a pilot experiment: it's an everyday reality.
What's most striking is that Norway is not a country poor in fossil fuels. On the contrary, it has oil and gas reserves that have financed a significant portion of its prosperity. And yet, it is very clear that the future of mobility lies not in burning gasoline, but in electrifying transportation as soon as possible.
This result is no accident. For years, the Norwegian government has implemented a consistent and predictable policy: subsidies for the purchase of electric cars, tax breaks, reduced tolls, preferential parking, and an extensive and reliable charging network.
The message to citizens has been clear and consistent: if you choose an electric car, everything will be easier and cheaper.
This is how you change a market. Not with speeches, but with well-designed incentives maintained over time.
Norway achieved its goal of electrifying its vehicle fleet almost a decade ahead of the European Union's target. It's true that it's a small country and doesn't manufacture cars, which reduces the pressure from major manufacturers. But that doesn't invalidate the main lesson: when a government has a clear vision, change happens.
For me, along with China, Norway is the best example that major technological leaps come hand in hand with decisive public policies.
And while the rest hesitate, China accelerates.
Indeed, China not only leads the electric vehicle transition, but also dominates the global electric car industry. In 2025, BYD was the world's largest manufacturer, with over 2.2 million electric vehicles sold.
And it's not staying put. BYD already manufactures in Thailand, is starting production in Brazil at former Ford plants, is building a large factory in Hungary that will become operational in 2026, and has advanced agreements in Turkey, among other countries.
Now they're not just selling cars: they're exporting industry, technology, and jobs.
Just to give you an idea, in 2025, more than 15 million cars were manufactured in China, with Chinese brands dominating the market, 55% of which were electric. That's more than the rest of the world combined.
In terms of exports, they sold 2.3 million electric cars, representing a 100% increase compared to the previous year, despite tariffs in Europe and the USA.
Europe, meanwhile, seems asleep, artificially prolonging the life of the combustion engine as if that were a solution. It isn't. It's just a way of delaying the inevitable.
The United States, with tariffs and barriers, will make its cars more expensive, but it won't stop Asian competition. The global market will continue moving toward electric vehicles, with better batteries and ever-lower prices.
The price of inaction will be very high. In a few years, the regrets will begin. And as is almost always the case, the workers will pay the price, not those who made the wrong decisions. Industries that fail to adapt will disappear or shrink drastically.
The electric transition isn't ideological. It's technological, economic, and strategic.
Norway understood this in time. Others are still wondering if it's worth it.
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