Nio warned that tightened value-added tax rules for EVs in Norway have “significantly impacted the total price” of its models, as the Chinese brand struggles to gain traction in its first European market.
“From January 1, 2026, VAT rules for electric vehicles in Norway were tightened,” Nio Norway wrote on LinkedIn Friday.
“The VAT exemption now only applies to the first 300,000 Norwegian kroner of the purchase price,” the company explained in the post.
“For EVs in the family and SUV segments, this has significantly impacted the total price — particularly when the battery is included in the purchase,” the EV maker added.
Nio‘s Battery as a Service program, which allows customers to purchase vehicles without the battery and lease it monthly instead, reducing the taxable purchase price.
Battery Leasing Savings
The premium brand said in a blog post that illustrated the potential savings using its EL6 SUV as an example.
Under the new tax rules, purchasing the EL6 with the battery included would cost 743,284 Norwegian kroner (approximately $73,700), with 83,542 kroner ($8,300) paid in VAT.
Opting for battery leasing instead reduces the purchase price to 543,284 kroner, with VAT of 43,542 kroner — an immediate saving of 40,000 kroner ($3,970).
The monthly loan payment for an outright purchase would be 8,919 kroner ($884), compared with 6,559 kroner ($650) under the battery leasing option.
Adding the 1,999 kroner ($198) monthly battery lease fee brings the total monthly cost to 8,558 kroner — still 361 kroner less than purchasing with the battery included.
Slow Start to 2026
The warning comes as Nio‘s preliminary registration data in Norway has stalled.
The company has registered just three vehicles in the first 15 days of January, all of which were the entry-level EL6 SUV, according to registration tracker EU-EVs.
Norway was Nio‘s first international market. The company’s first European showroom opened in Oslo in September 2021.
2025 Sales Miss
The new year follows a disappointing 2025 for Nio in Norway. The company registered approximately 520 vehicles across its Nio and Firefly brands, missing its 1,500-unit annual target by roughly 65%, according to EU-EVs data.
Country chief An Ho had set the target in early 2025, expecting “an exciting year” for the brand despite the market being “dominated by smaller and cheaper cars.”
Instead, Nio‘s premium brand sold approximately 451 vehicles in Norway last year — less than half of the 890 units delivered in 2024 and the company’s lowest annual registrations since launching in the market.
Registrations rebounded in December to 85 units, the best month of the year, driven primarily by the EL6 SUV.
Firefly Underperforms
Nio‘s more affordable Firefly sub-brand, launched in Norway in mid-August, also fell short of expectations.
The company cut its 2025 target for the brand from 500 to approximately 200 vehicles.
Firefly registered 69 vehicles in Norway between its August 14 launch and year-end, reaching only about 35% of the revised target. Sales were boosted by a late November promotion that reduced pricing on the debut model by 17%.
Inventory Challenges
Nio has been struggling to clear inventory of 2023 and 2024 models in Norway, a challenge it also faces in other early European markets.
The company offered a 1.99% interest rate on all four models in the fourth quarter, and inventory units of the ET5 sedan sold out in November.
Nio currently operates 20 battery swap stations in Norway, with the most recent opening in November 2024.
The infrastructure supports the company’s BaaS program, which it is now positioning as a cost advantage under the new tax regime.
