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Power Transportation

Over Half of Norway Car Sales Are Now Electric (reuters.com) 345

Posted by BeauHD 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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Over Half of Norway Car Sales Are Now Electric More

Over Half of Norway Car Sales Are Now Electric

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  • Proof of viability (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @05:02AM (#58370144) Homepage Journal

    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.

    • I concur, they do great despite the hostile climate.

      Btw: Am I the only one not receiving slashdot reply notifications anymore?

    • Re:Proof of viability (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @05:24AM (#58370208)

      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.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        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.

      • Re:Proof of viability (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @07:23AM (#58370616)

        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.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by es330td ( 964170 )

          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?

        • 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

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Maybe "heavy snow" means something different to you, but looking at Bjorn Nyland's videos there is plenty of snow and he has no trouble doing very long trips with multiple charges.

        • Why would an EV have any more problems with heavy snow than a regular car? If anything they would be better because they are heavier.
      • Then why is everyone telling me it is -30C there?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LabRatty ( 96497 )

      Insightful? None of these are the actual reasons for the success. All about money, lower cost of ownership.

    • 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 (

      • I don't think you have really "tested" an EV unless you have lived with it for a month in -30C weather.

        • I don't think you have really "tested" an EV unless you have lived with it for a month in -30C weather.

          I would never go somewhere with -30C weather! Why would I subject myself to that?

      • 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.

        I like the Rivian from all I've seen. Tesla often seems to go for flair rather than function- like their gullwing doors. Rivian seems all practical. I'd love a Rivian, there again- they're projecting them to cost $70k... there is no way I would spend that much on a car. I'm amazed that the average new car price in the US is now $35k; I have a good job that pays well and I'd never pay anything like that much for a new car so $70K is totally beyond my willingness to spend.

        I'd rather spend the money on som

        • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      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.

    • Re:Proof of viability (Score:4, Insightful)

      by quenda ( 644621 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @06:50AM (#58370480)

      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.

    • Yeah,
      but what are they going to do when the "Dunkelflaute" comes? No sun in winter, no wind anymore, and all the water power plants frozen??

      I expect a drastic increase of birth rate next winter!

  • Norway is a bit of a special case here (Score:5, Informative)

    by svirre ( 39068 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @05:37AM (#58370258)

    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.

    • 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: (Score:2)

        by svirre ( 39068 )

        The BEV exemption on toll roads have not effectively been ended yet. Over the next few years it will however be reduced to a 50% discount. The schedule varies by region as there will be individual decision pr. toll road. F.ex in Oslo the discount will be changed from 100% to 75% in june. Most toll roads still have 100% discount, but yes it will change.

    • Note that TFA conveniently ignores sales of fossil fueled cars that were purchased new in other parts of Europe and imported as used (cars represent a large share of Norway's imports). Electric cars are still a small percentage of the total number of vehicles.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      * 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)

      So the bulk isn't actually a subsidy, it's them not collecting taxes. And the emissions taxes are directly to offset the externalized costs of running a fossil car, so actually just a part of the TCO that some countries allow you to pass on to other people.

  • An American Car Company is Winning. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @05:57AM (#58370306) Journal
    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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Well, Tesla already benefited from the tax break. It's structured to try to get as many players in the field as possible (because that competition should be good for consumers). First mover advantage is covered by Tesla's trademarks and patents.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tomhath ( 637240 )

      Beating the pants off the Germans and the Japanese

      Not really. Tesla had a big month as they cleared a backlog due to delivery problems, but the Nissan Leaf is still the top seller.

  • All good until... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by gabrieltss ( 64078 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @06:57AM (#58370504)

    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.

    • Thanks for admitting what no one else will.

    • Re:All good until... (Score:4, Informative)

      by Falconhell ( 1289630 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @07:34AM (#58370672) Journal

      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.

    • Re:All good until... (Score:5, Informative)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @07:50AM (#58370762) Homepage Journal

      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.

  • - 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.

    • - 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?

      • I have been corrected. Still on average temperatures are fairly high. Coldest average temp I found was -10C in bergen.

        • 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.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Norway reached -32 last year: https://www.thelocal.no/201802... [thelocal.no]

      If we look at somewhere like Troms we see that the AVERAGE minimum temperature is -8 in January: https://weather-and-climate.co... [weather-and-climate.com]

      In fact Oslo, in the south, is due to hit -7 on Wednesday, and it's April: https://www.worldweatheronline... [worldweatheronline.com]

      Check out Bjorn Nyland's videos on YouTube, he regularly travels through mountain regions in a variety of EVs.

    • Re:Norway is the perfect place for EVs (Score:5, Informative)

      by arcade ( 16638 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @09:13AM (#58371192) Homepage

      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.

  • Yes, but it's Europe (Score:3)

    by hymie! ( 95907 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @09:26AM (#58371274)

    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.

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