NORWAY - On Track to Be First All-Electric
Norway is the world leader when it comes to the take up of electric cars, which last year accounted for nine out of 10 new vehicles sold in the country. Can other nations learn from it?
“We think it’s wrong to advise a customer coming in here today to buy an ICE [internal combustion engine] car, because the future is electric,” says chief executive Ulf Tore Hekneby, as he walks around the cars on display. “Long-range, high-charging speed. It’s hard to go back.”
The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has adopted EVs faster than any other country, and is on the cusp of becoming the first to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel cars.
Norway is undoubtedly an EV pioneer, but this electric revolution has been three decades in the making.
Even though it’s a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims for all new cars sold to be “zero emission,” starting at some point in 2025. A non-binding goal was set back in 2017, and that milestone now lies within reach.
Yet Norway is also a very wealthy nation, which thanks to its huge oil and gas exports, has a sovereign wealth fund worth more than $1.7tn (£1.3tn). This means it can more easily afford big infrastructure-build projects, and absorb the loss of tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel cars and their fuel.
-www.bbc.com, 13 January 2025
Arno's Commentary
Norway maintains a social-capitalist economic system. Workers’ rights are a high priority, with universal healthcare and free education. This super-rich country has become the envy of the world. GDP per capita stands at $90,500 (2023). Life expectancy is 82.9 years.
Religiously, it was King Olaf Tryggvason who in 994 AD adopted Christianity as the official religion. Today, the country is 67.5% Lutheran, with 3.1% Muslim. About 20% of Norwegians state that religion occupies an important place in their lives. But that percentage continues to fall on a yearly basis.
According to Worldometers.info, the Norwegian population has continued to increase steadily since 1960. As in most prosperous European states, a contributing factor for population increase is migrants. According to Wikipedia, “As of 1 January 2024, Norway’s immigrant population consisted of 931,081 people, making up 16.8% of the country’s total population, with an additional 221,459 people, or 4.0% of the population born in Norway to two foreign-born parents.”
However, the living Church is alive and continues to grow according to various reliable sources. Here again, we see how the words of our Lord Jesus Christ continue to be fulfilled: “I will build my church.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
