- cross-posted to:
- electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
- cross-posted to:
- electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
Norway is the world leader in EV sales, but now it’s crossed a new landmark: the first country with more EVs than gas cars in service.
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20240915025331/https://electrek.co/2024/09/14/there-are-now-more-electric-cars-than-gas-cars-on-norways-roads/
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I’m curious how well they handle the colder temperatures.
Very well. It’s much more enjoyable to own an electric vehicle in colder climates than a gas/diesel powered one actually, since you can let it heat up and defrost completely before going anywhere.
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a60344222/does-an-ev-work-as-well-in-cold-weather/
Interesting. I’ve always heard the usual complaints of EVs being harder to start from cold temps and the battery not lasting as long when it’s cold.
Harder to start? That sounds extremely weird - it’s electric :D I’ve never had such issues (Sweden, on my second EV) while ignition when really cold has always been problematic with my gas/diesel cars.
Range goes down, yes. That’s true also for gas/diesel cars, but when the range is good enough we tend not to notice/care. My previous EV (Tesla Model 3 SR+) had lousy range both summer and winter (Tesla lies about their range) but in the winter it was indeed painful.
The current one (VW ID.7) has about double the range and also performs as stated. I expect a 20% drop in range in the winter and that’s just fine.
This is good to know. Sweden’s climate is very close to where I live in the US (a little colder I think) and I know I’ve always thought the tech wasn’t there yet for places that actually have 4 seasons.
Is it true it draws power to keep the battery warm when parked, and if so is it significant?
Some models do precondition the battery. Of those that do, if you leave the vehicle unattended for months you would notice the drain. Not over a few days though, the power drain is negligible compared to what’s needed to drive, or the increased range loss of a colder battery.
To put things in perspective: The average consumer EV can drive for 3–4 hours, but can power an entire household (including appliances) for 2 days.
I haven’t owned it through winter (no ID.7 owner has tbh) but I don’t expect that to be an issue. It will only heat the battery if you schedule departure times.
I’ve noticed no battery drain with the car parked otherwise.
That’s part of the disinformation campaign against competition for legacy auto and gas. There is a lot of money going into telling you the new option is worse…
It’s a mixed bag imo. Don’t go on a long road trip in the cold…
I’ve been traveling all across the US in an EV and haven’t had any issues with range in the winter. Colorado mountains during ski season, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana in the spring. The built in navigation routes you to chargers based on current conditions and I’ve seen minimal range drop.
Battery capacity plummets when temperatures drop really low.
Also charging is a whole lot slower
Which EV do you have where this is an issue? The ones I’ve had pre-heat the battery to optimal charging temperatures.
VW. As far as I know they still don’t have battery pre-conditioning…
I have a VW ID.7 and it does - but I also believe that’s the first model on their “new platform”.
Not dure if it’d the batteries or the charging stations. But I have a ds3 e-tense and during like, -10c ish is just a pain to charge.
You can even tell in the winter cus the queues to charge is just so long.
Norway is a rich country so the government can help people buy electric instead of gasoline cars. Of course, they got rich by selling oil, but yes.
They actually don’t use the fund to subsidize it. And many policies were added overtime, which any managed economy should be able to do.
The Norwegian EV incentives:
- No purchase/import tax on EVs (1990-2022). From 2023 some purchase tax based on the cars’ weight on all new EVs.
- Exemption from 25% VAT on purchase (2001-2022). From 2023, Norway will implement a 25% VAT on the purchase price from 500 000 Norwegian Kroner and over
- No annual road tax (1996-2021). Reduced tax from 2021. Full tax from 2022.
- No charges on toll roads (1997- 2017).
- No charges on ferries (2009- 2017).
- Maximum 50% of the total amount on ferry fares for electric vehicles (2018)
- Maximum 50% of the total amount on toll roads (2018-2022). From 2023 70%
- Free municipal parking (1999- 2017)
- Access to bus lanes (2005-). New rules allow local authorities to limit the access to only include EVs that carry one or more passengers (2016-)
- 25% reduced company car tax (2000-2008). 50% reduced company car tax (2009-2017). Company car tax reduction reduced to 40% (2018-2021) and 20 percent from 2022.
- Exemption from 25% VAT on leasing (2015-)
- The Norwegian Parliament decided on a national goal that all new cars sold by 2025 should be zero-emission (electric or hydrogen) (2017).
- «Charging right» for people living in apartment buildings was established (2017-)
- Public procurement: From 2022 cars needs to be ZEV. From 2025 the same applies to city buses
Meanwhile in Slovenia - here, have some subsidy for buying a new one and that’s all. Figure out yourself about charging, specially if you live in an apartment.
It’s no different in Sweden. While I’m on my second EV and will never go back I can’t motivate it for people who live in apartments. To be able to use an EV effectively you absolutely have to have your own charger to connect it to while home, and very few apartments have that possibility.
Norway has way more incentives compared to us, which is somewhat unusual between us Nordic countries.
And a lot of smart investment, see the UK for an example of a country that got a 50% share in the exact same oil fields and continues to run itself into the ground to pay oligarchs.
