Tax And Fees On Electric Vehicles In Norway Explained: Are They Really Tax Free?

Norway is one of the countries in the world with the highest concentration of electric vehicles, and it’s known to many as the “EV capital of the world”. One of main reasons for this is the tax reduction that EVs get compared to fuel-based cars, so what’s the deal with tax on electric vehicles in Norway?

Norway used to have zero tax and VAT on electric cars until 2023, but it’s now gradually changing the tax to be more and more the same as non-electric vehicles. The current (2023) taxes and fees are at 25 % VAT for the price above 500,000 NOK, as well as 12,5 NOK for kg the car weights over 500 kg.

This means that the taxes, VAT and fees you need to pay for an electric vehicle in Norway is still much lower than for a fuel based car of the same value, but it’s no longer completely tax, VAT and fee free.

But exactly how much is the current tax on EVs in Norway? The numbers don’t really make sense all by themselves since you need to know the weight and value of a car, so let’s explore further and take a look at actual numbers.

How much tax, VAT and fees for buying a new electric vehicle in Norway is 2023

Starting January 1, 2023, a few new taxes, VAT and fee systems are in place for buying and registering a new electric vehicle in Norway. They are as follows:

• 25 % VAT on the car cost above 500,000 NOK. This means that a new EV that costs 700,000 NOK will now cost 750,000 NOK after the added VAT (700,000 – 500,000 = 200,000 NOK. 25 % VAT of 200,000 NOK is 50,000 NOK).
• “Weight fee” (vektavgift) for 12,5 NOK per KG the car weights above 500 kg. This means that most electric vehicles will cost an additional 14,000 to 20,000 NOK in “weight fee”, since this is the weight range for most new EVs.

If you buy a car for less than 500,000 NOK, you won’t need to pay any VAT at all, but you still need to pay the weight fee.

To to summarize, the cheaper electric vehicles might get a fee of around 15 – 18 thousand Norwegian kroner, while the more expensive options will also have a flat 25 % VAT increase for the price above 500,000 NOK.

The actual cost of buying electric vehicles in Norway

Okay, so we’ve seen the percentages and flat numbers, but let’s take a look at actual car models to put the numbers into perspective.

Car type	Price before any fees	Price after all fees and VAT	Sum of fees and VAT
Tesla Model Y	522,390 NOK	545,000 NOK	22,610 NOK
Tesla Model 3	432,380 NOK	448,290 NOK	15,900 NOK
BMW iX	701,080 NOK	774,062 NOK	72,982 NOK
Audi e-tron	571,820 NOK	612,988 NOK	41,168 NOK
Polestar 2	365,000 NOK	383,000 NOK	18,000 NOK
Nissan Leaf	309,000 NOK	323,000 NOK	14,000 NOK

Keep in mind that all price costs are just examples, and can be different in real life. Extra equipment will make the car heavier, thus increasing the price. All prices are in NOK.

Electric vehicles are still exempt from many taxes and fees

Even though there’s a lot of added fees for electric vehicles now in 2023, it’s still far cheaper than buying and registering a brand new non-electric car in Norway.

If you were to buy a same priced car that would run on gas or diesel, expect to pay around 100,000 to 250,000 NOK extra, depending on the value of the car.

Non-electric vehicles need to pay a “one time fee” (engangsavgift) that often costs around 100,000 NOK, as well as a flat 25 % VAT on the full cost.

So a brand new non-electric car that costs 700,000 NOK before any taxes will end up costing an additional 100,000 NOK for the “one time fee”, 175 000 NOK in VAT and around 10 to 15 thousand NOK in the weight fee.

So in total, this 700,000 NOK car will easily cost just around 1,000,000 NOK. The same priced EV car would cost around 775,000 NOK!

The weight fee is slightly cheaper for non-electric cars since they tend to be lighter due to not having a battery, but the overall cost are obviously much lower for EVs.