Electric vs Petrol Car in Norway: Which Is Cheaper?

Should your next car in Norway be electric or petrol? This calculator compares what the two cost to own, per year and per kilometre. It includes depreciation, electricity or fuel, insurance, service, road tolls and the road traffic insurance tax. Tax rates are for 2026. You enter the purchase price, consumption and insurance yourself, because these vary a lot from car to car.

How the calculator works

• Depreciation: the purchase price minus the resale value after your ownership period, with a fixed percentage loss each year. It is often the biggest cost, which is why the price difference between the cars matters so much.
• Electricity: km per year / 10 x kWh per 10 km x average price. The average weights home charging and fast charging. You can pick Norgespris (a fixed-price scheme), the electricity support scheme, or enter your own total price.
• Fuel: km per year / 10 x litres per 10 km x price per litre. The default is an estimate of the pump price from 1 September 2026: NOK 24.13/l for petrol and NOK 25.99/l for diesel. The latest Statistics Norway (SSB) average, August 2026, was NOK 19.42/l for petrol and NOK 21.48/l for diesel, but road-use tax on fuel was temporarily set to zero from 1 April to 31 August 2026. From 1 September it is back at NOK 3.77/l for petrol and NOK 2.28/l for diesel, and the CO2 tax on auto diesel is back at NOK 4.42/l (it was NOK 3.09/l from 1 May). With 25% VAT that adds NOK 4.71/l to petrol and NOK 4.51/l to diesel. The estimate assumes an unchanged price before tax and will be replaced by SSB's September figure once it is published. Enter the price you actually pay. In Norway, consumption is often quoted per "mil", which is 10 km.
• Fixed costs: insurance, service, tolls and the road traffic insurance tax (NOK 3,343 for an electric car and NOK 2,380 for a petrol car in 2026).
• Break-even: the distance where the two cars cost the same per year. The electric car usually has higher fixed costs (depreciation) and a lower cost per km. Above the break-even distance the electric car pays off.

The purchase price should be the drive-away price, that is including VAT and one-off registration tax. Loan interest and lost return on your savings are not included.

What is different for car buyers in Norway in 2026

• VAT on electric cars: the exemption threshold has been lowered from NOK 500,000 to NOK 300,000. An electric car at NOK 450,000 before VAT now gets NOK 37,500 of VAT. The government has announced that the exemption is to be removed entirely from 2027, but that is announced and not adopted (as of 2 October 2026).
• Road traffic insurance tax: NOK 9.16 a day for an electric car, more than NOK 6.52 for a petrol car. The old advantage of a lower annual tax for electric cars is gone.
• One-off registration tax (engangsavgift): electric cars pay only the weight tax and the scrap deposit fee. Petrol cars also pay for CO2 and for weight above 1,200 kg. A 1,450 kg petrol car emitting 125 g/km pays NOK 199,475; a 2,100 kg electric car pays NOK 22,736. Work it out for a specific car with the car registration tax calculator.
• Road tolls: an electric car pays at most 70% of the petrol-car toll. The local discount varies.
• Electricity: Norgespris is 50øre per kWh including VAT. With Statistics Norway's average grid fee including taxes in Q2 2026 (50.9 øre) that comes to NOK 1.01/kWh. Under the electricity support scheme the state covers 90% of the hourly price above 77 øre excluding VAT. Households paid on average NOK 1.18/kWh including grid fee after support in Q2 2026.

Worked example

An electric car at NOK 450,000 is compared with a petrol car at NOK 380,000. Both drive 15,000 km a year for 5 years. The electric car uses 2 kWh per 10 km, and 15% of the electricity comes from fast charging at NOK 4.5/kWh; the rest is charged at home at NOK 1.18/kWh. That averages NOK 1.68/kWh. The petrol car uses 0.65 litres per 10 km. Road tolls are NOK 6,000 a year for the petrol car and NOK 4,200 for the electric car. These figures are illustrative defaults: replace them with your own.

The electric car works out NOK 6,158 cheaper per year, NOK 30,788 over 5 years. Electricity costs NOK 5,031 against NOK 23,527 for petrol, but the electric car loses NOK 14,174 more in value each year because it is more expensive. Break-even is about 10,000 km a year. At 25,000 km a year the electric car saves NOK 18,488 a year.

Electric or petrol by distance driven

Same assumptions as in the example, cost per year:

When does an electric car pay off?

An electric car pays off best when you drive a lot, charge cheaply at home and live where there are road tolls. Each extra kilometre widens the gap because electricity is cheaper than petrol. If you drive little, depreciation on the more expensive car decides the outcome, and a cheaper petrol car or a used electric car can be the better buy. If the price difference is small, the electric car almost always wins.

The figures for insurance, service and depreciation are typical estimates, not facts. Get insurance quotes for the specific models and check used prices to estimate depreciation. If you are bringing a car in from abroad, see the import car to Norway cost calculator.