by matsemann
9 subcomments
- Before celebrating this too much, I urge people to read this article about how it has actually played out: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23939076/norway-electric-...
These subsidies have insentivised more car culture. It hasn't fixed most of the issues around cars, just shifted the type of cars. Even possibly increased the amount of cars in the cities. Cars are dangerous, noisy, needs lots of space, microplastics from the tires etc etc., and we should've spent this money on things that could've helped to remove this reliance on cars.
40 billion NOK in subsidies each year. That's a new metro line every year. Or faster trains between cities. Things that could've improved our cities tremendously. You pay more in taxes for buying a new bike than people pay for a new electric car. It cost more for a ticket on public transport than all toll roads driving an electric car from far away into the city in rush hour. Of course people then drive instead of biking or taking the bus.
Yes, the incentives were great and needed in the beginning. But it has gone way, way too far.
- A person who drives 12k miles per year in an small vehicle will need about 4000 kWh of electricity or about 600 gallons of gas. Australians are able to buy solar panels that will generate that amount of electricity for a generation for the price of gas for one or two years. Of course there are more costs associated (Installation, batteries, etc) but the cost equation is shifting very quickly.
If anything I'm surprised that this is happening in an area that hasn't benefited as much from dramatic reductions in electricity costs (places with Wind + Solar without large tariff regimes) rather than Australia or the southern latitudes of the US.
- It's fantastic and to be applauded but also worth mentioning that Norway has a truly staggering amount of hydro power (130TWh/y) to support all the increased demand on the grid with carbon neutral electricity.
by insuranceguru
1 subcomments
- The interesting downstream effect of this 100% adoption will be the secondary market and insurance.
Right now, even minor accidents that touch the battery pack often result in a total loss because there is no standardized way to verify battery integrity or repair individual cells safely at scale. If Norway figures out the circular economy for used/damaged EVs before the rest of us, that will be the real breakthrough.
- Good for them. Good for "the planet" (and uh... Tesla I suppose). But... most of incentives for the transition has been substantially funded by the nation's massive oil and gas revenues.
I wonder what they will do next with that obscene amount of money.
- Norway is an outlier since it's one of the most affluent countries in the world.
- Norway is also particularly Not Suitable for petrol-powered autos.
If you live near Holmenkollen you do not need battery charger at all. With regenerative charging you have already %30 when you are in Oslo and you need only some more charge from Vinmonopolet parking lot to get back home. Basically free energy created from thin air.
by vintermann
2 subcomments
- I suppose next is either electric air transport, or more/better trains? Trains in Norway are really not great.
(Sidenote: Why̱ are they̱ writing their y̱'s like that?)
- Norway has been on this steady path for quite a while. I remember some years ago, when we still lived in central Europe, I compared the prices for electricity and in Germany, they were about 3x (!) higher per kWh than Norway.
Petrol prices, however, were roughly the same.
- This is great, so long as the country cares more about becoming electric than tax income. I can assure you that in the Netherlands this is not the case.
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46821415
by 1970-01-01
0 subcomment
- Finally, an article that satisfactorily answers their headline! Commercial EV adoption is lagging. They will pursue this next.
by HPsquared
3 subcomments
- Norway will be a good place for datacenters with all that electricity, modern economy and ambient coldness.
- 110% :P (or well more public transport so less cars ? :P)
- > Battery-electric vehicles have had exemptions from the 25 percent value-added tax and from the CO2- and weight-based registration tax that apply to combustion-engine vehicles.
that's not going to last forever
by okokwhatever
2 subcomments
- The challenge is not the total energy generated by solar, but the instantaneous power capacity. The grid collapses if supply does not perfectly match demand in real-time
by curiousgal
2 subcomments
- I find it hilarious that people applaud Norway, whose economy is heavily driven by exporting petroleum gas and crude oil, for leading the world in clean energy adoption.
- It only works until the money printer aka subsidies are around.
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