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Buying a car in Norway or even from abroad has always been very expensive because of the taxes Norway poses on regular cars: > https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/p

Buying a car in Norway or even from abroad has always been very expensive because of the taxes Norway poses on regular cars: > https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/duties/cars-and-other-vehicles/buying-car-in-norway https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/duties/cars-and-other-... Electric cars are exempt from these taxes which is why they are so attractive in Norway for customers. Electric cars are also exempt from road fees. Overall, electric cars in Norway are still getting 2.4 billion USD subsidies per year: > https://www.nettavisen.no/okonomi/norge-sponser-elbileiere-med-19-2-milliarder-kroner-det-er-ikke-dem-som-har-lite-penger-som-kjoper-tesla/s/12-95-3424032603 https://www.nettavisen.no/okonomi/norge-sponser-elbileiere-m... I mean, of course people are buying electric cars under these circumstances.

zip1234 6y ago
Does Norway have any incentives/subsidies for electric bikes or scooters?
- cbmuser 6y ago
  According to this website, there is a discount on the VAT when buying an electric bikes in Norway: > https://kontohjelp.no/kontering/elsykkel/elsykkel-til-bruk-i-virksomhet https://kontohjelp.no/kontering/elsykkel/elsykkel-til-bruk-i... The official website of the Norwegian tax authority also has some details which mentions scooters (Norwegian: Ståhjuling) as well: > https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/rettskilder/type/uttalelser/prinsipputtalelser/merverdiavgiftsloven--8-1-og--8-4-jf.-merverdiavgiftsforskriften--1-3-1-forste-ledd-bokstav-h---sporsmal-om-fradragsrett-for-inngaende-merverdiavgift-ved-anskaffelse-og-drift-av-stahjuling-og-el-sykkel/ https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/rettskilder/type/uttalelser/p...
  - snorremd 6y ago
    The VAT discount as discussed in the links apply when a company acquires an electric bike for company use. It does not as far as I know apply to private citizens which pay the normal VAT rate. There have been some municipal subsidy schemes for private citizen where you upon sending a receipt of an electric bike purchase will get some money back. They are however often temporary as they only budget a given amount for the scheme.
giantg2 6y ago
Are there any suggestions for how to replace lost revenue that would support infrastructure like roads? In the US roads are mostly maintained by taxes on gas. I would think taxing tires might be a decent replacement, but I haven't seen much conversation on the issue.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  >In the US roads are mostly maintained by taxes on gas. I would think taxing tires might be a decent replacement, but I haven't seen much conversation on the issue. Most of the conversation seems to be around taxing mileage or putting up toll roads which IMO are both crap solutions. Taxing mileage is, is highly regressive because less wealthy people drive tons more (they live farther out from the economic centers and more frequently justify driving farther to access goods more cheaply). However, less wealthy people do not shape public policy in the kinds of states that tend to be willing to try these things out so we'll likely wind up with mileage taxes that result in people in the expensive cities and inner ring suburbs paying the least and they will be able to justify it by pointing out that the less wealthy who live in city apartments and use public transit (which is generally how the more wealthy want the less wealthy to live) pay even less. Taxing tires is a great idea because it's a naturally progressive tax though still loosely tied to overall use. The poors on their rock hard economy all seasons will pay less than the wealthy on their super sticky and soft summers and winters. Also tire cost scales well with weight of vehicle and the heaviest vehicles do the most damage to roads. That said, I can see a lot of bad 2nd order effects (that fuel tax is mostly immune to) if we start taxing tires so I am highly apprehensive. It would be a great time to own an alignment shop though. IMO the best solution is to just accept that good transit infrastructure is in everyone's interest and fund roads directly with general tax revenue the same way we fund subways, municipal water/sewer, parks and almost every other piece of infrastructure. The net good of the marginal cost of use being so low that pretty much anyone can use as much as they want with no cost other than opportunity cost has immense benefits to society.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    I think that makes sense. I wonder if enough people see it that way and what sources of that general tax revenue would increase to offset the lost revenue from gas tax.
azhenley 6y ago
I'm jealous. Tennessee (in the US) has no incentives for electric cars and actually charges a high "EV fee" for annual vehicle registration since they aren't getting the gasoline tax.

zip1234 6y ago

Does Norway have any incentives/subsidies for electric bikes or scooters?

cbmuser 6y ago
According to this website, there is a discount on the VAT when buying an electric bikes in Norway: > https://kontohjelp.no/kontering/elsykkel/elsykkel-til-bruk-i-virksomhet https://kontohjelp.no/kontering/elsykkel/elsykkel-til-bruk-i... The official website of the Norwegian tax authority also has some details which mentions scooters (Norwegian: Ståhjuling) as well: > https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/rettskilder/type/uttalelser/prinsipputtalelser/merverdiavgiftsloven--8-1-og--8-4-jf.-merverdiavgiftsforskriften--1-3-1-forste-ledd-bokstav-h---sporsmal-om-fradragsrett-for-inngaende-merverdiavgift-ved-anskaffelse-og-drift-av-stahjuling-og-el-sykkel/ https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/rettskilder/type/uttalelser/p...
- snorremd 6y ago
  The VAT discount as discussed in the links apply when a company acquires an electric bike for company use. It does not as far as I know apply to private citizens which pay the normal VAT rate. There have been some municipal subsidy schemes for private citizen where you upon sending a receipt of an electric bike purchase will get some money back. They are however often temporary as they only budget a given amount for the scheme.

giantg2 6y ago

Are there any suggestions for how to replace lost revenue that would support infrastructure like roads? In the US roads are mostly maintained by taxes on gas. I would think taxing tires might be a decent replacement, but I haven't seen much conversation on the issue.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
>In the US roads are mostly maintained by taxes on gas. I would think taxing tires might be a decent replacement, but I haven't seen much conversation on the issue. Most of the conversation seems to be around taxing mileage or putting up toll roads which IMO are both crap solutions. Taxing mileage is, is highly regressive because less wealthy people drive tons more (they live farther out from the economic centers and more frequently justify driving farther to access goods more cheaply). However, less wealthy people do not shape public policy in the kinds of states that tend to be willing to try these things out so we'll likely wind up with mileage taxes that result in people in the expensive cities and inner ring suburbs paying the least and they will be able to justify it by pointing out that the less wealthy who live in city apartments and use public transit (which is generally how the more wealthy want the less wealthy to live) pay even less. Taxing tires is a great idea because it's a naturally progressive tax though still loosely tied to overall use. The poors on their rock hard economy all seasons will pay less than the wealthy on their super sticky and soft summers and winters. Also tire cost scales well with weight of vehicle and the heaviest vehicles do the most damage to roads. That said, I can see a lot of bad 2nd order effects (that fuel tax is mostly immune to) if we start taxing tires so I am highly apprehensive. It would be a great time to own an alignment shop though. IMO the best solution is to just accept that good transit infrastructure is in everyone's interest and fund roads directly with general tax revenue the same way we fund subways, municipal water/sewer, parks and almost every other piece of infrastructure. The net good of the marginal cost of use being so low that pretty much anyone can use as much as they want with no cost other than opportunity cost has immense benefits to society.
- giantg2 6y ago
  I think that makes sense. I wonder if enough people see it that way and what sources of that general tax revenue would increase to offset the lost revenue from gas tax.

azhenley 6y ago

I'm jealous. Tennessee (in the US) has no incentives for electric cars and actually charges a high "EV fee" for annual vehicle registration since they aren't getting the gasoline tax.