Norway Hits Milestone as Electric Cars Surpass Petrol Vehicles (theguardian.com)
- Reference: 0175092991
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/20/1735247/norway-hits-milestone-as-electric-cars-surpass-petrol-vehicles
- Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/17/norway-electric-cars-outnumber-petrol-for-first-time-in-historic-milestone
> Of the 2.8m private cars registered in the Nordic country, 754,303 are all-electric, against 753,905 that run on petrol, the Norwegian road federation (OFV) said in a statement. Diesel models remain the most numerous at just under 1m, [1]but their sales are falling rapidly . "This is historic. A milestone few saw coming 10 years ago," said OFV director Oyvind Solberg Thorsen. "The electrification of the fleet of passenger cars is going quickly, and Norway is thereby rapidly moving towards becoming the first country in the world with a passenger car fleet dominated by electric cars."
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/17/norway-electric-cars-outnumber-petrol-for-first-time-in-historic-milestone
Norway has abundance of electricity (Score:2)
Makes sense they would shift transportation to electric-based vehicles. More than 95% of the country's electricity is generated by hydroelectric dams. They could likewise generate hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles as well. In fact, during WW2, the Nazis invaded Norway in order to gain access to the Vemork Norsk Hydro Plant outside Rjukan so they could generate heavy water for their efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Great book about the allies sabotage of that facility - The Winter Fortress.
Density (Score:2)
Also, about half the population of Norway live in the ten largest cities, so building out charging infrastructure is fairly easy.
You know I think I'd rather see more Kei Trucks (Score:2)
And the like but I'm seriously doubting that's going to happen because big pickup trucks are a multi-billion dollar industry in America and one of the most profitable ones in existence.
I mean sure if you get hit by an SUV you're going to die but there's plenty of people putting about on motorcycles who can say the same thing. And those Kei Trucks get something like 40 mi to the gallon in Citi.
Whatever the case cars are rapidly becoming unaffordable and we're going to have to do something about that.
Re: (Score:2)
> And the like but I'm seriously doubting that's going to happen because big pickup trucks are a multi-billion dollar industry in America and one of the most profitable ones in existence. I mean sure if you get hit by an SUV you're going to die but there's plenty of people putting about on motorcycles who can say the same thing. And those Kei Trucks get something like 40 mi to the gallon in Citi. Whatever the case cars are rapidly becoming unaffordable and we're going to have to do something about that. You can't have a transportation system that half the population can't afford to use. At least not without massive social problems
You don't see many Kei vehicles in the US due to [1]safety regulations [arstechnica.com] in most states. That said, I just discovered they're legal in mine, so I might look into one for my next vehicle.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/08/states-keep-banning-cheap-little-kei-cars-for-fear-theyre-deathtraps/
Surely you mean (Score:2)
Norway hits kilometerstone,
Thats impossible (Score:2)
Electric cars don't work when its cold outside. Many random internet posters have assured me that this is true.
Re: (Score:2)
The range is good enough that it doesn't matter. Just like fossil cars lose range in the cold, but you can fill them up quickly.
Norway has plenty of fast chargers, and Nio battery swap stations that take about 4 and a half minutes.
Re: (Score:2)
Is it generally even needed to charge on the go? One of the big advantages of electric cars is obviously that they can typically be charged at home, fast or not.
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> Electric cars don't work when its cold outside. Many random internet posters have assured me that this is true.
According to Norway's own study EVs lose on average 20% range in cold weather, so they obviously still work but are definitely also negatively affected by it.
In general, Norway's success with EVs is due to their government's policy which pushed EVs through massive incentives and legislation aimed at making life much easier for EV owners.
Countries that wish to reach similar numbers as Norway should take note and implement similar measures. Relying on the free market alone is not going to work in the timefram
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> Countries that wish to reach similar numbers as Norway should take note and implement similar measures. Relying on the free market alone is not going to work in the timeframes most government have envisioned for EVs adoption.
Norway has a ridiculous amount of money in their oil funds and they have thrown a lot of it at incentivizing people to buy EV's and building out their network of chargers, there aren't many countries that have that kind of resources. Anyone buying an EV in Norway are entitled up to about $8000 in subsidies and tax breaks.
Although Norway currently has a problem, they don't have enough transmission capacity to keep up with the ever increasing demand of electricity due to the electrification and are now suppos
Re: (Score:2)
You get about a third of the range at around -30 and closer to a quarter at -40C, if you maintain reasonable cabin temperature but otherwise they're more or less usable (though coolant leaks and such are a thing). Goes up to about a half at -20C. So they're going to be decent in Oslo summer, and shitty in Kirkenes winter.
Battery degradation really kicks in when you use them like that though. Lithium batteries really don't like being used at the thermal extremes, and start to have permanent degradation to a
Re: (Score:2)
> You get about a third of the range at around -30 and closer to a quarter at -40C, if you maintain reasonable cabin temperature but otherwise they're more or less usable (though coolant leaks and such are a thing). Goes up to about a half at -20C. So they're going to be decent in Oslo summer, and shitty in Kirkenes winter.
> It'll be fine in Kirkenes, where the average low in December is about -10C.