After enjoying literally a free ride for years, owners of electric cars started having to pay parking fees from March 1 in Oslo just like all others. They are, however, much lower than those for “fossil” cars.
“Electric car sales hit steadily new heights in Oslo, and it should pay off to choose an elbil instead of one running on fossil fuel,” Arild Hermstad, a member of the city government for the Greens Party. “But electric cars (called elbil in Norway) also stir up dust and take lots of room on the city streets, especially in Oslo where we have Norway’s best public transport system and improved bike lanes. Therefore they must also pay something for parking.”
They’ll still only have to pay 20 percent of what fossil-fueled cars pay, which rose 20 percent at the same time. Parking rates differ around town, but electric cars will now pay NOK 5 an hour in central areas, or NOK 28 per day for commuters parking between five and 24 hours. That amounts to around NOK 600 (USD 65) a month.
Electric car owners have also started having to pay some road tolls from which they earlier were exempted. They’re also lower, however, than those for fossil vehicles.
newsinenglish.no staff
