Renting a car during winter in Norway

Maybe you are visiting Norway to see the Northern Lights? Or running some errands before Christmas?

We have created an article with some important things to consider when renting a car in Norway during the winter season.

Firstly, we would like to remind you that the conditions (snow, icy roads) can make it more challenging to drive during the winter. We recommend that you take caution, check the weather forecast and conditions, and drive carefully.

Tyres:

Before you start your rental you should check the state of the car and ensure it is equipped with winter tyres.

All cars in Norway are required to have two sets of tyres, one set for the winter season and one set for the summer season. The tyres for the winter season are better equipped for the conditions during winter such as snow and iciness.

From the 1st of November and up until and including the first Sunday after Easter Monday, there is a requirement to have a minimum tread depth of 3 millimetres on your tyres. How long the requirement applies for will therefore vary slightly each year, depending on when Easter is that year.

The requirement is longer for northern parts of Norway - for Nordland, Troms and Finnmark the requirement for a minimum of 3 millimetres of tread depth applies from the 16th of October up to and including the 30th of April.

On this page you can find more information about tyres from the traffic authorities in Norway (Statens Vegvesen).

Fee for studded tyres:

Piggdekkoblat is a fee that one has to pay if you drive a car with studded tyres in certain cities in Norway (like Oslo). Not all winter tyres are studded, but if you are to drive into an area where you have to pay this fee, we ask that you check beforehand. You can find more information here. If the car is already located within the area where this fee needs to be paid, it is the owners responsibility to pay this fee. If the car is located outside this area and you are driving inside an area where the fees apply, it is your responsibility to ensure this fee is paid.

Electric cars:

It is important to remember that the expected range of an electric car will drop during winter, and charging the car in colder temperatures usually is slower than normal. An electric car can lose up to 40 percent of its range depending on the conditions, use of heating and driving style.

If you are unsure of the specific range of the car you are interested in booking/already have booked, we recommend that you contact the owner to double check this information with them.

You can find more information on electric cars in this help center article.