Norwegian Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen promised that hydrogen cars with a combustion engine will be exempted from taxation in the same way as electrical cars and fuel cell based hydrogen cars.

Norway's current car taxes gives several tax exemptions for electrical cars, as well as for hydrogen cars based on fuel cell technology. Owners of hydrogen cars with a combustion engine, however, have not been given the same economical incentive. With the new policy promised by Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen at the national convention of the Socialist Left Party this is set to change. - A large victory, says Einar Håndlyykken in ZERO. - Exemption from taxes is a crucial point to prevent a delay in the introduction of hydrogen to the transport industry and an important step towards making hydrogen cars competitive.

The reasoning for the old taxation policy was that hydrogen cars with a combustion engine are not completely emission free. According to Håndlykken the differentiation is rather pointless. - These cars pollute so little, with a reduction between 95 and 99,99 per cent, that they for all practical purposes are zero emission-cars and therefore should be given the same tax exemptions as other zero emission-cars.

Owners of electrical cars with a battery have been exempted from the registration tax as well as the yearly road tax for years. In addition there has been no sales tax on new electrical cars. - After pressure from ZERO and others the government of previous prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik (Christian Democratic Party) also included hydrogen cars with fuel cell technology, Håndlykken states, - hydrogen cars with combustion engines were not included. This flaw is now being addressed, something the Socialist Left and the government deserves recognition for.

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