Ownership of battery electric vehicles is uneven in Norwegian households

The transition to a zero-emission passenger vehicle fleet has become imperative because of the growing concerns about climate change. Here, we investigate the trends and socioeconomic determinants influencing emitting and battery electric vehicle ownership using longitudinal data of Norwegian households with any vehicle ownership record from 2005 to 2022, accounting for over 2.7 million unique households. Intriguingly, battery electric vehicle ownership has been concentrated on the wealthiest of those owners. Moreover, almost one in ten households once owned battery electric vehicles discontinued ownership by 2022. Our population-level panel data analysis indicates that larger household size, having children, and working away from the residence municipality are positively linked to owning emitting vehicles, while demonstrating the opposite effect regarding battery electric vehicle ownership. Higher income also appears to drive vehicle ownership positively, irrespective of fuel type.