Sales of both gasoline (petrol) and diesel fell 28 percent last year in the western neighbourhoods of Oslo, and 16 percent in suburban Asker and Bærum. The sharp decline is linked to an even sharper rise in sales of electric cars.
Electric cars of all types are driving the car market at present, and driving down sales of conventional fuel. The portion of car owners who have shifted over to electric cars in west Oslo is the highest in the capital, which also helps explain the decline in gasoline and diesel sales.
Newspaper Aftenposten reported how figures from consulting company Rystad Energy show that conventional fuel sales are stable in the eastern districts of Oslo, and also on a national basis. “In western Oslo and Akershus there are many electric cars because incomes are high,” Artyom Tchen, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy, told Aftenposten. Many car owners are able to charge their electric cars at home and have bought electric cars as an extra vehicle to use for commuting, since they’re so far mostly exempt from road tolls and parking fees.
newsinenglish.no staff
