Over Half of Norway Car Sales Are Now Electric (reuters.com)

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Over Half of Norway Car Sales Are Now Electric (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Monday April 1, 2019 @10:00PM from the leading-the-way dept.

The Norwegian Road Federation (NRF) said on Monday that almost 60 percent of all new cars sold in the country last month were fully electric, "a global record as the country seeks to end fossil-fueled vehicles sales by 2025," reports Reuters. From the report: Exempting battery engines from taxes imposed on diesel and petrol cars has upended Norway's auto market, elevating brands like Tesla and Nissan, with its Leaf model, while hurting sales of Toyota, Daimler and others. In 2018, Norway's fully electric car sales rose to a record 31.2 percent market share from 20.8 percent in 2017, far ahead of any other nation, and buyers had to wait as producers struggled to keep up with demand.

The surge of electric cars to a 58.4 percent market share in March came as Tesla ramped up delivery of its mid-sized Model 3, which retails from 442,000 crowns ($51,400), while Audi began deliveries of its 652,000-crowns e-tron sports utility vehicle. The sales figures consolidate Norway's global lead in electric car sales per capita, part of an attempt by Western Europe's biggest producer of oil and gas to transform to a greener economy.

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Proof of viability by AmiMoJo · 2019-04-01 22:02 · Score: 5, Insightful

Norway has severe weather, sub zero temperatures for much of the year, heavy snow, and people need to travel long distances. All the things that people say make EVs unsuitable.
Norway put in the infrastructure. Charging everywhere. EVs work great there.
Well done Norway.

--
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
1. Re:Proof of viability by Anonymous Coward · 2019-04-01 22:24 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Very little of this is significant and barely even true. I live there. Most Norwegian live in areas where is just goes under freezing for 3-4 months at most, heavy snow is uncommon, cleared very effectively and few people commute very far at all.
  They are a success because of tax. Petrol cars have a 100% tax, electric have zero, so a Telsa cost a similar amount to a medium sized car, a Leaf was cheaper than a well equipped hatchback. Plus they travel free on the toll roads and Norwegians have a lot of money they need to try to find a way of spending. In fact it was so successful the government had significant issues with the hole in the budget caused by the lack of income from reduced taxable car sales.
2. Re:Proof of viability by Anonymous Coward · 2019-04-01 22:31 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Norwegians have a lot of money they need to try to find a way of spending.
  You need to bring in more diversity like Sweden and pay everything for them, that will solve that problem.
3. Re:Proof of viability by Sique · 2019-04-01 22:56 · Score: 2
  
  Insulation only helps so much. You can slow down the cooling, but you can't block it entirely. The insulation can't be too think otherwise it gets too heavy for a car. I would guess that after 24 hrs, a battery has cooled down to the environmental temperature, no matter what insulation you put in place.
  
  --
  .sig: Sique *sigh*
4. Re:Proof of viability by LabRatty · 2019-04-01 23:13 · Score: 2
  
  Insightful? None of these are the actual reasons for the success. All about money, lower cost of ownership.
5. Re:Proof of viability by AmiMoJo · 2019-04-01 23:36 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Apparently several people didn't get your joke.
  Actually the other classic anti-EV argument, the off-grid remote cabin with no possibility of solar or wind power, is actually a thing in Norway too.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
6. Re:Proof of viability by AHuxley · 2019-04-01 23:49 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Well done at the tax rate. Thats all that happened. A huge new tax on non electric car sales.
  Making the population to have to save up and get an electric car. Pay a huge new tax on a non electric car.
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
7. Re:Proof of viability by quenda · 2019-04-01 23:50 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Norway has severe weather, sub zero temperatures for much of the year, heavy snow, and people need to travel long distances. All the things that people say make EVs unsuitable.
  Norway put in the infrastructure. Charging everywhere. EVs work great there.
  Well done Norway.
  You forget to add: Norway has the billions of tons of oil exports to pay for it.
8. Re:Proof of viability by brinkie · 2019-04-02 00:02 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  They have this problem as well with fossil fueled cars, that is why many cars in colder climates (e.g. Scandiavian countries, Canada) are equipped with a block heater. My Volvo has one, plug it into mains an hour or two before you leave and a 550 Watt element in the engine block (replaces a freeze plug) will bring the coolant 20-30 degrees centigrade above ambient temperature. When plugged into a charger, many electric cars will do the same, they will pre-heat the batteries and heat up the car's interior when it's cold, to save battery consumption while on the move. Conversely, when it is hot summer, they will turn on the a/c.
  
  --
  Omnis basim vester nobis compete sunt.
9. Re:Proof of viability by fluffernutter · 2019-04-02 00:13 · Score: 2
  
  If only they came with a fireplace to create cabin heat.
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
10. Re:Proof of viability by Jzanu · 2019-04-02 00:19 · Score: 2
  
  Entirely Wrong. Just yesterday it reached -4 (C) at 700. Past lows routinely reach -5 (C) earlier this year. Total terms for lows recorded in history was -32.5 (C).
11. Re:Proof of viability by Oswald+McWeany · 2019-04-02 00:23 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Very little of this is significant and barely even true. I live there. Most Norwegian live in areas where is just goes under freezing for 3-4 months at most, heavy snow is uncommon, cleared very effectively and few people commute very far at all.
  It's all relative though. If I have one day where it's still freezing by noon I consider that pretty darn cold nowadays. What you consider not so bad a winter, many people on here would consider pretty severe. I've lived in 3 countries and never seen more than 7cm of snow fall, I'm sure 7cm is nothing to you though . I've seen how 3 inches can cause havoc on a city not prepared for snow. Heck, I've driven in my car behind a dump truck that had two men standing in the back shoveling sand on to the road as it slowly rolled forwards- that's the best remedy the city I lived in had to deal with the snow (that was in the mid-South, US). They didn't even have salt. "Heavy Snow is uncommon" vs "Heavy Snow would bring the city to a complete grinding halt."
  What people were worried about is that sub-freezing temps would make the electric car not work. Norway has definitely proven this wrong.
  There are few heavily populated places on earth that have REALLY severe weather- there's a reason most Norwegians live in the less severe parts of the country, I'm sure. Nonetheless, electric cars have proven they can do well in Norway, they've proven they can do well in almost any HEAVILY-POPULATED area. Maybe they won't do as well North of Trondheim (maybe they would), but people in those conditions represent a very small percent of the world's population.
  
  They are a success because of tax. Petrol cars have a 100% tax, electric have zero, so a Telsa cost a similar amount to a medium sized car, a Leaf was cheaper than a well equipped hatchback. Plus they travel free on the toll roads and Norwegians have a lot of money they need to try to find a way of spending. In fact it was so successful the government had significant issues with the hole in the budget caused by the lack of income from reduced taxable car sales.
  Aye, and that's a good model for the rest of us to follow.
  
  --
  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
12. Re:Proof of viability by AmiMoJo · 2019-04-02 00:42 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You forget to add: Norway has the billions of tons of oil exports to pay for it.
  So has the US. So has the UK. So have lots of countries. But only Norway did it.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
13. Re:Proof of viability by brinkie · 2019-04-02 01:53 · Score: 2
  
  Regardless of what "we" don't need to use, many car parks in northern Scandinavian countries have power outlets for block heaters, which can be used to great benefit for heating up electric car batteries and keeping the car's interior warm. This mitigates a disadvantage of electric cars in polar conditions. By the way, Diesel and bio-ethanol powered engines really do need to be warmed up when starting in extreme cold, be it through glow plugs (Diesel), auxiliary heater (runs on fuel) or an electric heater. Bio-ethanol or E85 is very popular in Sweden and winters are pretty cold there, hence the block heater in my flexifuel (runs both on E85 and petrol) Volvo.
  
  --
  Omnis basim vester nobis compete sunt.
14. Re:Proof of viability by Ol+Olsoc · 2019-04-02 01:54 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  They have this problem as well with fossil fueled cars, that is why many cars in colder climates (e.g. Scandiavian countries, Canada) are equipped with a block heater.
  Finally - I'm amazed that it took someone this long to point out the truth. We have petrophiles complaining about cold batteries, and ignoring that some folks start fires under their oil sump to get their vehicles warm enough to start.
  In Alaska cities, parking meters have electrical outlets to plug your car into to keep it warm.
  
  --
  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
15. Re:Proof of viability by nospam007 · 2019-04-02 02:13 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  "Actually the other classic anti-EV argument, the off-grid remote cabin with no possibility of solar or wind power, is actually a thing in Norway too."
  They get 95% of their power from hydro and those all in the sticks as well.
16. Re:Proof of viability by es330td · 2019-04-02 03:00 · Score: 2
  
  Aye, and that's a good model for the rest of us to follow.
  What additional tax are you willing to pay to subsidize EV buyers?
17. Re:Proof of viability by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2019-04-02 03:01 · Score: 2
  
  many car parks in northern Scandinavian countries have power outlets for block heaters, which can be used to great benefit for heating up electric car batteries and keeping the car's interior warm. This mitigates a disadvantage of electric cars in polar conditions.
  "Mitigates a disadvantage"? One would think it does more than that. The batteries could be heated from these power outlets *by charging them*. On the other hand, heating the engine block on an ICE car won't make it magically materialize more gasoline in its tank.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
18. Re:Proof of viability by GregMmm · 2019-04-02 03:28 · Score: 2
  
  OK, quick reality check. Electric cars will work in the cold. Also, they will not work as efficiently in the cold. Batteries just act like this. How many times do you have issues with a starting battery in an ICE vehicle in the summer as apposed to the winter? Still usually works, but not as well.
  The other really misleading part of this article is the numbers. Really, Tesla sold 5,822 cars and had 31.7% of the market share in a year? Not alot of demand for cars there, but if there is good alternatives I understand why.
19. Re: Proof of viability by Grunschev · 2019-04-02 09:29 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  When you say that English "has been the common language pretty much since inception" you'd be ... wrong.
  A couple of examples: Until the USA entered WWI, there were more German language newspapers in Pennsylvania than English. Dwight David Eisenhower spoke German growing up. You may have heard of him.
  It's only recently that Americans (mostly right-wingers, mostly xenophobic) have insisted that everybody speak American. It's only recently that said assholes accost people in public and scream at them for not speaking American in their presence.
  I think it would be good for most folks to learn a little bit about their own country before spouting off. Why do you want to make Americans look stupid?
Re:I wonder where their electricity comes from... by Cesare+Ferrari · 2019-04-01 22:10 · Score: 5, Informative

Oh, a bit of digging says that they are almost entirely hydroelectric production, so this is an actual real reduction in fossil fuel dependance. Awesome!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Re:I wonder where their electricity comes from... by Sique · 2019-04-01 22:28 · Score: 2

The "fair bit" in this case is: more hydro electric power than the country actually uses, or more than 100 percent hydro powered.

--
.sig: Sique *sigh*
Norway is a bit of a special case here by svirre · 2019-04-01 22:37 · Score: 5, Informative

Large EV sales in norway are due to subsidies to the tune of the equivalent of USD~10-30000 pr. car:
* Goods (including cars) normally carry a 25% VAT. BEVs are exempted. (Easily worth USD 10-20000)
* Non BEV cars additionally carry taxes calculated from emissions and weight. Additional taxes for cars tend to range from the USD equivalent of USD 2000 to many tens of thousands for large performance cars.
* There are a lot of toll roads in norway. Many car drivers can spend the equivalent of USD 3000 annually on tolls. BEVs are expempted from tolls. (This benefit will likely be reduced shortly, but a 50% saving has been assured)
* Many cities have free parking for BEVs (Also likely to be a reduced benefit going forward)
For usability: Most roads are limited to 80km/h and most drivers do not drive excessively long distances. 15000 km annually is the average.
The parts of norway where very long driving distances are common (Northern Norway) BEV penetration is very low.
Winter range of BEVs can drop a bit on the coldest days but norway is mostly temperate. Subzero temperatures usually only occur 30-60 days pr. year in most populated areaes. (Though it varies greatly, but so does BEV adoption)
Note that the high numbers of EV sales in march is significantly due to that Tesla delivered ~5000 cars in. Tesla tends to deliver cars towards the end of the quarter, and Q1 saw the first availability of model 3 which had a large pent up demand, so do not expect next month to repeat this number.
1. Re:Norway is a bit of a special case here by Freischutz · 2019-04-01 23:23 · Score: 2
  
  Large EV sales in norway are due to subsidies to the tune of the equivalent of USD~10-30000 pr. car:
  * Goods (including cars) normally carry a 25% VAT. BEVs are exempted. (Easily worth USD 10-20000) * Non BEV cars additionally carry taxes calculated from emissions and weight. Additional taxes for cars tend to range from the USD equivalent of USD 2000 to many tens of thousands for large performance cars. * There are a lot of toll roads in norway. Many car drivers can spend the equivalent of USD 3000 annually on tolls. BEVs are expempted from tolls. (This benefit will likely be reduced shortly, but a 50% saving has been assured) * Many cities have free parking for BEVs (Also likely to be a reduced benefit going forward)
  For usability: Most roads are limited to 80km/h and most drivers do not drive excessively long distances. 15000 km annually is the average. The parts of norway where very long driving distances are common (Northern Norway) BEV penetration is very low. Winter range of BEVs can drop a bit on the coldest days but norway is mostly temperate. Subzero temperatures usually only occur 30-60 days pr. year in most populated areaes. (Though it varies greatly, but so does BEV adoption)
  Note that the high numbers of EV sales in march is significantly due to that Tesla delivered ~5000 cars in. Tesla tends to deliver cars towards the end of the quarter, and Q1 saw the first availability of model 3 which had a large pent up demand, so do not expect next month to repeat this number.
  The Norwegian BEV exertion on road tolls has been ended and even with when a sales tax is levied on on BEV's you still no longer have to pay the carbon taxes you are saddled with when buying a fossil fuel powered car. I don't think that internal combustion powered cars will make a resurgence once the incentives are dropped. Only the current US government is betting its bottom dollar that the future of the car industry is to be found in 19th century vintage internal combustion engine technology.
Re:They havd shitloads of hydroelecticity. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2019-04-01 22:44 · Score: 2

And they burn their garbage for energy.
Getting rid of garbage is probably the greater motivation. It's not like they have too few energy sources.

--
Ezekiel 23:20
An American Car Company is Winning. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2019-04-01 22:57 · Score: 2, Interesting

Beating the pants off the Germans and the Japanese. So how do we reward it?
Even /. that is tolerant of pot and porn is hostile and call the CEO a pot smoking fraud. Well orchestrated campaign is on to oust the star CEO to hobble its ability to raise capital.
Structure the tax break to punish the ones that take early lead and risk. Tax break for Tesla and GM EVs are being phased out while the imports enjoy full benefit.

--
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
1. Re:An American Car Company is Winning. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2019-04-01 23:07 · Score: 2
  
  The well orchestrated campaign stretching back for 11 years now. From day 1. If you have negative opinion of Tesla, check to see how your trusted news sources have been misleading you for a decade.
  Success of Tesla threatens the stealership network (6% margin on 300 billion sales) , the gasoline car makers (300 billion annual sales in USA alone), the oil industry (450 billion/pa in USA alone). Tesla does not advertise so media makes it the whipping boy to burnish their fearless journalistic credentials.
  
  --
  sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
2. Re:An American Car Company is Winning. by Freischutz · 2019-04-01 23:29 · Score: 2
  
  Beating the pants off the Germans and the Japanese. So how do we reward it?
  Even /. that is tolerant of pot and porn is hostile and call the CEO a pot smoking fraud. Well orchestrated campaign is on to oust the star CEO to hobble its ability to raise capital.
  Structure the tax break to punish the ones that take early lead and risk. Tax break for Tesla and GM EVs are being phased out while the imports enjoy full benefit.
  Well, Tesla is a left-wing libtart tree-hugger company. Good right thinking christian conservatives can't tolerate that now can they? So, they go for the only other alternative which is try to kill Tesla by any means possible and then equating the use of coal/oil/gas and producing massive CO2 emissions with patriotism. They send people to energy industry conventions to promote coal fed power plants and get laughed at.
Re:I wonder where their electricity comes from... by Freischutz · 2019-04-01 23:12 · Score: 2, Informative

Oh, a bit of digging says that they are almost entirely hydroelectric production, so this is an actual real reduction in fossil fuel dependance. Awesome!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
But this is entirely offset by Norway being one of the biggest net contributors to CO2 emissions world wide through their oil exports.
EVs are just better cars (mostly) by sjbe · 2019-04-01 23:25 · Score: 2

Norway has severe weather, sub zero temperatures for much of the year, heavy snow, and people need to travel long distances. All the things that people say make EVs unsuitable.
People who say such things are people who do not own and/or have not driven EVs. Yes there are some infrastructure issues for long distance travel still to be ironed out but the solutions are in sight. Furthermore in the mean time if I really need to drive a long distance I still own a gas powered truck or I can easily rent a car for a very reasonable price for my rare trip longer than the 238 mile range of my EV. It's not like the gasoline infrastructure is going to disappear any time soon.
I own an EV (Chevy Bolt) and honestly I don't see myself buying a non-EV or plug in hybrid ever again if I have a choice. I've owned a number of hatchbacks over the years including some hot hatches and the Bolt is just in a different league in most respects from similar cars. It's more far fuel efficient, smoother to drive, quieter, accelerates better at any speed than all but the most ridiculous of hot hatches, requires FAR less maintenance, eliminates gas station stops, is more fun to drive, and the list goes on. Even if you ignore the eco stuff altogether, it's just a better car in most ways than its ICE equivalents. The cold does impact its range some but not enough to really cause any serious problems except in the rarest of corner cases. Put some good snow tires on just like any other car and it's fine in the bad weather. In fact it's better in the snow than my previous hatchback (a VW Golf GL) by quite a lot.
I'm anxiously awaiting companies to start releasing electrified pickups and EVs with at least 50-100 miles of electric range or preferably completely EV. I'm watching the Rivian and Tesla offerings closely and hoping they motivate Ford/GM/FCA to get seriously busy with EV versions of their trucks too.
Re:I wonder where their electricity comes from... by mvreijn · 2019-04-01 23:47 · Score: 3, Insightful

Yes, that and the fact that they can afford all of these huge expenditures in infrastructure and subsidies because they became rich through oil.
Re:Cars are expensive in Norway by AHuxley · 2019-04-01 23:51 · Score: 2

A tax will do that.

--
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
All good until... by gabrieltss · 2019-04-01 23:57 · Score: 2, Interesting

The EV's are no longer EXEMPT from taxes. Gotta pay for all the infrastructure somehow. Eliminate gas vehicles and gas taxes and the money will HAVE to come from somewhere else... Just saying...
Oh and ask the Norwegians what the battery life is in those vehicles with the harsh winters. I live in Wisconsin and our winters make batteries have short lives. I have to buy batteries for vehicles every 3 years. EV's are not a good solution for areas with harsh winter cold temperatures - period! People with their Toyota Prius's are using more gas in them as the batteries don't run as long in the harsh winters - I know 3 people with them. I went kind of in the middle and got a Smart car. The only problem with them is they don't do well on snow and ice covered roads. They are small and lightweight. But I get 50 MPG with it and an 8 gallon gas tank actually gives me a decent driving range.

--
The Truth is a Virus!!!
1. Re:All good until... by fluffernutter · 2019-04-02 00:07 · Score: 2
  
  Thanks for admitting what no one else will.
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
2. Re:All good until... by Falconhell · 2019-04-02 00:34 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It may startle you to learn that the LiPo batteries in electric cars are not grandpa’s old lead acid batteries, not the Prius NiMh either, and that they have different properties.
3. Re:All good until... by AmiMoJo · 2019-04-02 00:50 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Presumably you are talking about replacing lead acid batteries every three years.
  EV batteries are different. Warranty on most is around 8 years and 100k miles, some offering considerably more. So if it did die after three years you would get a free replacement.
  People have been driving around EVs for getting on a decade now in places like Norway, Scotland and northern Japan and the batteries have proven durable. Even something like the original Nissan Leaf which has minimal thermal management for the battery turns out to be fine.
  Modern EVs can both heat and cool the battery as required. For very cold climates they can pre-heat before you set off, ideally while plugged in so it doesn't cost you any range.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Norway is the perfect place for EVs by fluffernutter · 2019-04-02 00:06 · Score: 2, Interesting

- Norway is the size of California
- Norway artifically makes ICE cars more expensive and subsidizes EVs with oil money yet people still have trouble finding chargers. They are non-existant in the mountains.
- Norway never goes below -3C
- All of Norway is 1619 km long. We have a completely ice road in Canada that is 750km by comparison.

Norway is basically the perfect place for these cars.

--
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
1. Re:Norway is the perfect place for EVs by angel'o'sphere · 2019-04-02 00:39 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  - Norway never goes below -3C
  If you would write:
  - Norway never goes below -30C it still would be wrong ... on what planet do yo live?
  
  --
  Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
2. Re:Norway is the perfect place for EVs by angel'o'sphere · 2019-04-02 00:52 · Score: 2
  
  Average temperature is completely irrelevant ...
  Norway has hot summers and cold winters.
  At the coast there are many towns, especially on the islands, that indeed are always above 0C ... because the golf stream hits there the coast.
  However Norway also has "mountains" ... so height comes into play, and it stretches up far north, like Alaska.
  If you had looked on a map, then you had no problem judging its temperature.
  
  --
  Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
3. Re:Norway is the perfect place for EVs by AmiMoJo · 2019-04-02 00:57 · Score: 2
  
  Norway reached -32 last year: https://www.thelocal.no/201802...
  If we look at somewhere like Troms we see that the AVERAGE minimum temperature is -8 in January: https://weather-and-climate.co...
  In fact Oslo, in the south, is due to hit -7 on Wednesday, and it's April: https://www.worldweatheronline...
  Check out Bjorn Nyland's videos on YouTube, he regularly travels through mountain regions in a variety of EVs.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
4. Re:Norway is the perfect place for EVs by jmb_no · 2019-04-02 01:23 · Score: 2
  
  You don't need to go high up in the mountains even, you just need to go further away from the coast for the temperatures to drop quickly. Karasjok is, I believe, at an elevation of 141 meters, and it can be fairly cold there (record is -51.4C or close to that).
  Also: length. Closer to 2800 km of mostly windy roads crossing mountain passes and twisting around whatever terrain or moose was in the way when they built it if you go between Lindesnes and Kirkenes ;-)
  A lot of these factors caused people to be sceptical towards electrical cars, and many people still are. Reducing taxes on the cars is one way of coercing people into trying.
  For myself, I bought a plug in hybrid in 2014 (no tax benefits), and I just ordered a new one. 4WD electric or hybrids are really nice on slippery roads (especially for hills). We did consider a fully electric car, but the charging infrastructure in the northern parts of the country are still not quite there for a one car family (unless you can justify buying a Tesla ;-) ).
5. Re:Norway is the perfect place for EVs by svirre · 2019-04-02 01:48 · Score: 2
  
  Others are saying that it rarely freezes where most people live.
  That is not true. The most populous region in Norway is around Oslo. There are about 2M people living within commuting distance to Oslo. This region usually sees a few weeks each winter with temperatures around -10 to -20C throughout the day, with a more common winter temperature of -5 to 0C. Winter is roughly end of december to early/mid march.
6. Re:Norway is the perfect place for EVs by arcade · 2019-04-02 02:13 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Norwegian Tesla owner here ..
  I was out driving in less than -20C here in Norway this winter, so that bit is patently false.
  There's plenty of chargers.
  Norway might be small area wise, but length wise (south to north) .. think San Diego to Vancouver.
  
  --
  "Rune Kristian Viken" - http://www.nwo.no - arca
Re:I wonder where their electricity comes from... by Oswald+McWeany · 2019-04-02 00:35 · Score: 3, Interesting

Norway is a massive oil exporter. Every drop of oil they don't burn in cars they export as oil instead. Norway moving to electric cars does nothing at all to reduce the overall problem because they just export the difference.
The demand in oil won't go up over-seas because Norway is exporting a larger % of what they earn. In fact as electric cars are beginning to take a larger share of the market in many places, and power stations switch from using oil, the demand for oil will decrease. It won't go away completely any time soon- but demand for oil is going to drop- and production of oil will drop in many places too- to keep the prices from free falling.
Oil is slowly fading away.

--
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Re:I wonder where their electricity comes from... by houghi · 2019-04-02 00:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

That is an even better thing. They used the gains from their country for the good of the people, instead of for a few individuales that own shares in the company.
Can you imagine that instead of the oil barons in Texas, they would have put that money into use for the people, to be used by the people? Or instead of the coalmine owners, used that money to re-educate the people now their jobs became useless.

--
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Re:They havd shitloads of hydroelecticity. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2019-04-02 00:42 · Score: 2

And they burn their garbage for energy.
Well, gee, when the idea of burning garbage for energy was promoted in the film "Back to the Future" everybody seemed to like it.
And I, for one, would have more of an incentive to take out the garbage every week, if my car could run on it.

I bet if my city was surrounded by waterfalls instead of even more people, we could do that too. But then again, we'd probably be a lake. ;)
Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër ?
See the løveli lakes
The wøndërful telephøne system
And mäni interesting furry animals
Including the majestik møøse
A Møøse once bit my sister...

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Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Re:I wonder where their electricity comes from... by virtig01 · 2019-04-02 01:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

Every drop of oil not burned in Norway is a drop that might not be burned at all: if not used as fuel, it could instead be used in plastics, lubricants, or petrochemicals.
Re:Cold climate people are screwed by dargaud · 2019-04-02 02:01 · Score: 3, Informative

You think Norway is in the tropics ? For the harshest temperature, eventually they'll have insulated battery packs and internal heaters or some such.

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Non-Linux Penguins ?
Yes, but it's Europe by hymie! · 2019-04-02 02:26 · Score: 2

Just a reminder about the old joke, that in Europe, 100 miles is a long distance, and in America, 100 years is a long time.
I have nothing bad to say about all-electric cars. But a 300-mile range will not even get to my parents' houses. That's why i can't buy one.
Re:They havd shitloads of hydroelecticity. by MightyMartian · 2019-04-02 03:03 · Score: 2

It certainly does. The average daily North American commute is well below the maximum range of most charged EVs. But we'll hear all kinds of stories about how the majority of North Americans own cabins in the woods, or something.

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The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Rivian headlamps = ugly by sjbe · 2019-04-02 03:18 · Score: 2

I'd rather spend the money on something else... although if I COULD get any car I wanted and money wasn't an issue- it'd be the Rivian Truck.
Only style critique I have of the Rivian trucks is those headlights are UGLY. I have no idea why they thought that was a good look. Maybe they work great but they look like shit. Functionally it seems like a good truck presuming the build quality and interior functions are up to par.