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Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

cleantechnica.com

41–50 of 52 posts

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#41
post #13
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest, that would make my day, I wish gas was triple the actual price.

Do you live in the city with public transportation? Then I would definitely agree. Otherwise, Canada can be really big and rural. Not having access to car (or in this case, potentially not being able to afford it) can be really damaging to your career, lifestyle, social life. I grew up in the interior of BC 9 hours East of Vancouver. All of our driving policy (new driver rules and licensing) was dreamed up by street…

In Sweden, this is partially solved by giving you a tax rebate on your commute. So people who live rurally and need to commute into a city get some money back.

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#43
post #3

As a Norwegian this keep coming up in lunch conversations. I just bought an old used car from somebody buying a Tesla. What we come back to is the very high sale taxes on new cars in Norway (our "rule of thumb" is that cars are close to twice as expensive in Norway as in some other countries), but that most(/all?) of those taxes are waived for electric. So the alternative to getting, e.g., a Tesla is paying almost tw…

The electricity:petrol price ratio is also more favorable in Norway than many other countries, thanks to a combination of high petrol taxes but not too expensive electricity (due to the large hydroelectric capacity). For example, in California, typical petrol prices are around $0.85/L ($3.20/gal), and residential electricity prices are around $0.17/kWh. So you get about 5 kWh of electricity for the cost of a liter of…

I don't think it is about the fuel prices. While it is true that Norway has the highest petrol prices in the world, we have among the lowest fuel cost/income ratios in the world.

It is about getting 400+ hp at family barge prices.

(And that is okay by me. We need more people to drive electric cars so we can evolve and develop them. And Norway is a great place to do that because of the hostile climate and the even more hostile politicians and their medieval ideas of what constitutes a "road")

edit: link for reference http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/gas-prices/20133:Norway

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#44
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest, that would make my day, I wish gas was triple the actual price.

Well then you're also hoping for your food to triple in price because what do you think the farmers and fishermen here in Canada use for energy to power their vehicles? Or is that just typical Toronto center of the universe thinking?

I'm glad you bring that up, yes if we triple price, we can expect food and most things to skyrocket as well. Apart from giving them a rebate or some sort of big tax credit, I don't have a solution to bo honest.

I do not live in Toronto or even nearby, population of my city is 130,000. The public transportation is ok only if you don't have kids.

My point is, a majority of people don't even consider public transportation or electric cars, hybrids are a joke, except for the Chevy Volt.

The government incentives have been increasing but they don't seem to convince a lot of people.

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#45
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about driving in the snow? As a Canadian I can't see a Tesla being of any use in the winter, do people talk about that?

Really? I live in Hamilton and we plough so aggressively that I don't think anything on 4 wheels is inappropriate for the snow. You barely even need snow tires here unless you're planning to drive out to cow country. You out West? I've heard they don't salt out there, which makes all the difference.

Maritimes.

It snowed today and there was about six inches of slush on the roads, no plows out. Sure they salted the snot out of the roads but the slush was crazy.

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#46
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way to see this is that everybody is subsidizing rural lifestyles by bearing the cost of their externalities.

And you've done the math on that? Waving the "externalities" wand isn't magic to justify any policy you'd like.

Close the externalities and the market will figure it out.

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#47
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way to see this is that everybody is subsidizing rural lifestyles by bearing the cost of their externalities.

You know that "rural" is where all of your food, energy and building materials come from right?

Close the externalities and the prices of food, energy, and building materials will adjust accordingly. I have absolutely nothing against rural people or lifestyles but if you choose to commute two hours a day so you can live in the country, you should pay the true price of your lifestyle to society.

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#48
post #38
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a review of the Tesla during winter conditions in Norway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ5PqPeOPT0 (Spoiler: Pretty damn good even in harsh conditions)

Interesting, he had good points about such a heavy vehicle in snow and the large amount of torque that can make for dangerous winter driving especially in a rear-wheel drive vehicle. I had to look up what the 'cold weather spec' package is and seems to be just creature comforts not different engineering/design to increase efficiency in cold weather. My concern is at -20C in January with a metre of snow, heater on ful…

[deleted]

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#49
post #38
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a review of the Tesla during winter conditions in Norway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ5PqPeOPT0 (Spoiler: Pretty damn good even in harsh conditions)

Interesting, he had good points about such a heavy vehicle in snow and the large amount of torque that can make for dangerous winter driving especially in a rear-wheel drive vehicle. I had to look up what the 'cold weather spec' package is and seems to be just creature comforts not different engineering/design to increase efficiency in cold weather. My concern is at -20C in January with a metre of snow, heater on ful…

Package also seems to include battery heating, probably wise as li-ion sucks in extreme cold: "The Cold Weather Package adds an upgraded heater for the battery coolant to boost range and performance in the coldest of weather, along with an "improved defrost" grille, heaters in the cowl and the windshield washer nozzles, and inside, heated seats for the second row as well."

You can do morning heating using grid power, trigger it remotely via your phone (they have an app for iphone/droid). I think you also can schedule heating ahead of time.

Re: Top-Selling Car in Norway Now Electric Car Two Months in a Row

#50
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you've done the math on that? Waving the "externalities" wand isn't magic to justify any policy you'd like.

Close the externalities and the market will figure it out.

Again: Show your math. How do you figure out what the "externality" is? What's to stop you from saying it's $500 per barrel of oil consumed if that would result in your desired policy outcome?
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