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Transportation Technology

Tesla Extends Lead in Norway Sales, EVs Take 82% Market Share (reuters.com) 122

Tesla topped Norway's car sales for a third straight year in 2023, extending its lead over rivals despite an ongoing conflict between the U.S. electric vehicle maker and the Nordic region's powerful labour unions. From a report: Almost five out of six new cars sold in Norway last year were powered by battery only, with Tesla's share of the overall market rising to 20.0% from 12.2%, registration data showed on Tuesday. Electric vehicles accounted for 82.4% of new vehicles sold in 2023, up from 79.3% in 2022, the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) said. Seeking to become the first nation to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, oil-producing Norway exempts fully electric vehicles from many taxes imposed on internal combustion engine rivals, although some levies were introduced in 2023.
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Tesla Extends Lead in Norway Sales, EVs Take 82% Market Share

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  • Soon 100% EVs in Norway, 805 in US, EU, and China
    S-curves rock

      • It's because they're seen as a status symbol in Scandinavia, especially in Sweden, which btw. has only 5% 100% Ev cars.

        Even an Model S cost like 70K $ just for a base model without anything over here, no subsidicing like in Norway. And they even had a strike at the service workshop, boycotted at the post office for not some rules regarding number plates, even the 2023 models constantly have fails, but still - people want that Tesla - because Tesla!

        • by q_e_t ( 5104099 )
          In Norway it's already over 20% all-BEV on the road, December 2023. A year ago it was 27% all plug-in types in Norway, 16% in Iceland, 8.8% in Sweden, 7.8% in Denmark, 5.4% in Finland.
        • by Morky ( 577776 )
          Or because Teslas are the best EVs and safest passenger vehicles ever made.
      • In the USA, 80% seems maybe potentially doable, but even if EV technology and infrastructure were better in every way, there is a die hard constituency for gas or diesel pickup trucks that will never give up, but will only fade away at about the same rate as cigarette smoking has. (And to be fair to them, there is in fact no EV technology on the horizon to reach parity with fossil fuels for range and refuel time).
        • >> there is a die hard constituency for gas or diesel pickup trucks that will never give up
          Sure. Nobody keeps you from owning, maintaining, using an obsolete device. And that's OK. Nice hobby.
          When we'll reach a reduction of the CO2 emissions by 90%, that will be a huge step.

        • Re: "there is in fact no EV technology on the horizon to reach parity with fossil fuels for range and refuel time" - How many people actually NEED their car to do that on a regular basis? What % of drivers would that be?
          • In the US it's probably a pretty significant percentage, well over 20%.

            I know that I could not reasonably own an EV. I don't have a place to charge it off street, I don't have a place to charge it at work, I have a half hour commute and at least half the year it's cold enough to affect battery life. It's not feasible for me to recharge during the week, nor at week end.

            These problems could be solved with street chargers, but that's a whole can of worms itself. In some cases they can be deployed cheaply, in o

            • what's in the can of worms?

              Asking because my street quietly sprouted a bunch of in lamp post chargers and lamp post warts.

              • Well, in the county I live in, destroying them would become a pastime. Lots of coal rolling, thin blue line, trunp that bitch, drill baby drill types up here. Also, who's going to pay for it, etc etc. We have one EV charger with two spaces and we're considered progressive. Then there are some at the mall in Eureka.

                • I have no solution to widespread, targeted vandalism.

                  As for who pays, don't quote me on this but I think it's some split between the charging company and some branch of the government. The council's in the funny position of encouraging electric cars in particular while discouraging cars in general.

                  • Well, that's the rub. PGE isn't going to do it, they are absolute scum. The city isn't going to do it, they are broke. So we just don't get chargers. And Lo! There are none. Well, except the one. I think they thought it would bring people with money into our town to spend it. Problem is, the only things real close to the charger are a bar and a liquor store, and a couple of blocks further away, the world's worst hamburger joint.

            • by orzetto ( 545509 )

              These problems could be solved with street chargers, but that's a whole can of worms itself.

              If your street has streetlights, you have power. Most of these were built in the age of incandescent light bulbs and their wiring is now very oversized in the age of LEDs, freeing up several kW per lamppost. At that point it's just a matter of setting up an authentication system or an app for payment (which can be done at a later point when there are enough EVs to be worth it).

              As a Norwegian EV owner myself, I think

              • There is your chicken-egg problem though. I expect the infrastructure to be in place before I buy my EV, since I'll need it right then and there, not a year or 5 later.

                I think the biggest barrier to entry is also all the people that live in apartment complexes. Property owners aren't going to jump to install chargers, so it needs to be subsidized. Heck, property owners won't even splurge for double pane windows and considering the overall shortage of housing, they've zero reason to care. Go ahead and move,

          • Re: "there is in fact no EV technology on the horizon to reach parity with fossil fuels for range and refuel time" - How many people actually NEED their car to do that on a regular basis? What % of drivers would that be?

            On a percentage of drives basis, the number would be really low for most people. However, the percentage of people who drive out-of-town on a long trip at least once a year is really high. That's why most people with a BEV also have an ICE car.

        • It's not die hard anything. It's an economics issue. Most Americans cannot afford these $50k vehicles with 7% interest rates. Also a repair issue. Gasoline vehicles can be repaired by almost any mechanic in a home garage. But with EVs you are at the mercy of the dealer/company which can charge anything they want.
          • "Prices are high today so they will be high forever" is not a compelling argument.

            EV's still have to comply with standards like OBD-II

            Tesla is the odd-duck in the car industry in that they are tight about service repairs and parts. There is zero reason the EV market will be radically different from the ICE market where there is a vast amount of aftermarket parts and places to buy them. Just a quick glance on rockauto.com and I can buy parts for a Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf, Ioniq 5

            If car companies want to re

            • Also it's a range issue. A vehicle should be able to go to the nearest big city and back without range anxiety. Evs are not able to do this and people don't want to go backwards on range. It doesn't matter if 90% of the time we do short trips and can charge at night. There are times we need to go visit someone or vacation and an EV is a hassle for that.
              • How far do you think the vast majority of people live from the nearest city?

                Go to a large city center, draw a 250 mile radius around it, you will cover 90% of its metro area, the majority of it within 100 miles and can round trip single charge.

                If 300 miles trips are that crucial to you then by all means, buy a hybrid but you have to understand those are the small minority of trips for a small minority of people.

                By the national survey the median long range trip by car is 197 miles.

                • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

                  Or buy a Nio and swap the battery in 6 minutes.

                  Really though, 300 miles is a solid 5 hours of driving, if you manage to average 60 MPH. If you don't want to take a 30 minute break after that, I don't want you on the road because tiredness kills.

              • by Rei ( 128717 )

                A vehicle should be able to go to the nearest big city and back without range anxiety. Evs are not able to do this and people don't want to go backwards on range.

                My Tesla far outlasts my bladder, and it charges faster than me.

                "Range anxiety" is such nonsense. Modern EV ranges are >600km WLTP. Even in Iceland, roughly tied for 3nd/4th least densely populated country on Earth, charging the greatest distance between fast charging stations on the Ring Road (the one road that goes all the way around the co

        • In the USA, 80% seems maybe potentially doable

          It may some day be potentially doable to 80%, but not any time soon.

          I'm making this assumption based on the lagging and slowing sales of EVs in the US.

          They are piling up on dealership lots, taking MUCH longer to see than their ICE alternatives.

          It seems to date, most of the people that want or clamored for EVs have them, and everyone else is pretty much "meh" about them.

          I think we're stuck here till the prices come down, infrastructure is up enough to help c

          • Agree with that, buying an EV today, even a Tesla is still a bit in the early adopter camp and prices limit their market penetration.

            However I gotta keep posting this every time when EV's come up because it's the answer to a lot of these concerns.

            In 2019, just two battery factories were operating in the United States with another two under construction. Today there are about 30 battery factories either planned, under construction or operational in the country. [techcrunch.com]

            This brings volume up which brings prices down w

          • I'm making this assumption based on the lagging and slowing sales of EVs in the US.

            There's been a rash of articles giving that impression, but it's only true relative to previous expectations. On an absolute basis (number of vehicles, or total cost) EV sales are still increasing rapidly in the US:

            The National Automobile Dealer Association (NADA) reports that through 11 months of 2023, BEV sales totaled 1,007,984 â" an increase of 50.7% year-over-year.

            https://electrek.co/2023/12/05... [electrek.co]

            However I ag

            • It may not just be the US.

              I thought I heard and read this past weekend that Germany had halted their rebates/supplements for EV purchases over there.

              That's likely going to drastically halt the uptake of EVs there.

              I thought I heard that a couple other EU countries were going to have to do this too?

          • They are piling up on dealership lots, taking MUCH longer to see than their ICE alternatives.

            A big part of this is because many (most?) dealerships actively don't want to sell them. Auto dealerships make most of their money on service, and dealers (rightly, IMO) fear that BEVs won't provide them nearly the same revenue stream that ICEVs do. BEVs just don't need the same level of regular maintenance that ICEVs do (oil changes and the like). While there are reports showing that at present BEV reliability is lower than many ICEVs, those issues are almost entirely new-model teething pains, which will q

            • A big part of this is because many (most?) dealerships actively don't want to sell them. Auto dealerships make most of their money on service, and dealers (rightly, IMO) fear that BEVs won't provide them nearly the same revenue stream that ICEVs do.

              That may be so, BUT....the longer they have ANY car on the lot, they are losing money. They have to pay interest on the loans taken out for every car on the lot and if something sits there, they are losing money on it....so, it isn't like they will just let EVs

              • A big part of this is because many (most?) dealerships actively don't want to sell them. Auto dealerships make most of their money on service, and dealers (rightly, IMO) fear that BEVs won't provide them nearly the same revenue stream that ICEVs do.

                That may be so, BUT....the longer they have ANY car on the lot, they are losing money. They have to pay interest on the loans taken out for every car on the lot and if something sits there, they are losing money on it....so, it isn't like they will just let EVs sit there for any reason.

                Maybe. The dealers that have EVs but don't want to sell them only have them because the manufacturers are forcing them. It wouldn't surprise me if part of the way manufacturers force it is by giving them breaks on financing.

                In spite of this, and of lagging charging infrastructure, BEV sales continue to grow 50% per year.

                Is this the US?

                Yes. Actually a bit more than 50%.

                And even so....doubling from 8 to 16 cars is 2x the amount, but it really isn't a blip on the roadmap of vehicles sold in the US.

                Final numbers aren't in yet, of course, but it looks like Americans will have bought 1.2M BEVs in 2023, out of 15.5M vehicles total. That's 7.7%. Assuming the 50% YoY stays constant (it won't, but probably something like it), we can expect 12% in 2024, 1

                • 50% YoY is "stalling"?

                  With everything I"m reading and reports I've been watching...if this continues through 2024, I fully expect to see EV growth FAR less than 50% this year.

                  I mean, Ford has halted production of some models, I think even the lightening pickup truck, due to lackluster sales. That and they report they are losing like $36K on the expensive vehicles they sell....they can't go long doing that.

                  • Ford's EVs are less than 7% [caredge.com] of the US market. They could halt all sales of all models, if they were mad enough to abandon the entire future vehicle market, and it would barely move the overall needle. Tesla alone outsells them by 7-10x, and their sales are still increasing steadily YoY.

                    But this has been pointed out repeatedly, and you still seem uninterested in updating your views to match the real-world data.

                    • Ford's EVs are less than 7% of the US market. They could halt all sales of all models, if they were mad enough to abandon the entire future vehicle market, and it would barely move the overall needle. Tesla alone outsells them by 7-10x, and their sales are still increasing steadily YoY.

                      The trouble is...at this point, in the US, Tesla is about the ONLY one that is selling EV's in any real numbers.

                      All the US car companies seem to be losing money on each one they make so far...

                      How long can that go on?

                    • They'll either figure it out or Tesla will take their market away from them. Judging by Tesla's P/E, the stock market expects a lot of the latter.
                    • It will go on until they learn how to make EVs more efficiently - or concede the market completely. Retooling factories is expensive, so it's entirely expected that their initial vehicles are costly, but this will be amortised eventually. Tesla has a pretty major head start here, but the (other) US car companies will work it out in time. They have a lot of incentive; they know they will eventually be forced out of the market if they don't, so they'll invest whatever they need to.

                      Outside the US, other car co

                    • Outside the US, other car companies are doing just fine with EVs

                      I think the key to it here is...the US average citizen just isn't wanting one and until EVs become more attractive in all the "listed" ways that are posted, they just won't be wanting to purchase them.

                      You can't really legislate preference...especially one so central to the average citizen's life and lifestyle.

                      Mandates might work in CA or the northeast of the US, but I know in my area, any politician that tries to force EVs and kill ICE befo

                    • Nobody's suggested forcing anyone to buy anything. There have been EV sales targets discussed, and there will likely be both incentives and disincentives introduced over the following decade or so to encourage market shifts, not to mention EVs themselves will be considerably more mature - but flat ICE bans are highly unlikely (especially in the US).

                      I get that the average US citizen isn't wanting one yet, that's obvious from the 8% market share. But the point being made here once again is that this market sh

          • I'm making this assumption based on the lagging and slowing sales of EVs in the US.

            Didn't we have this exact same discussion already? [slashdot.org]

            Your assumption is incorrect. As I pointed out then, the data clearly shows [caredge.com] that EV sales in the US are now at record levels of 7.9%, and have been increasing YoY for years now. There's no sign whatsoever of any slowdown, if you look at the whole EV market instead of just Ford or GM.

        • Gasoline in Norway is $6.47 per gallon. Of course they will switch to Electricity. In the USA we are down to $2.50 in some places so much less reason to run out and buy an EV
          • That is true, I refilled for $2.31 over the weekend. Although, I am getting sick of the roller coaster ride. You just know gas prices will be back up for summer.
            • Geesh, I WISH I could pay $2.31 a gallon. Paid $4.35 (cash price) two days ago and that was down from 10 days before that. I really can't wait to get out of California.

        • In the USA, 80% seems maybe potentially doable, but even if EV technology and infrastructure were better in every way, there is a die hard constituency for gas or diesel pickup trucks that will never give up

          I think there will be a lot fewer die hards than that. Operating ICEVs requires a pretty extensive support infrastructure of fuel stations, parts stores and maintenance shops that we mostly don't notice today because it's ubiquitous, but as the ICEVs become the minority vehicles that infrastructure will fade quickly. We won't need a gas station on every block and an auto parts store for every 5000 residents. Auto body and glass shops will be as common as ever, but lube & tuneup shops, muffler shops, tra

  • Someone better alert all these EV buyers that electric cars don't work in the winter!

    • Re:Winter (Score:5, Informative)

      by MindPrison ( 864299 ) on Tuesday January 02, 2024 @09:36AM (#64124335) Journal

      Someone better alert all these EV buyers that electric cars don't work in the winter!

      No, they work just fine.

      I have a Mazda MX-30 which totally flopped in the U.S. I think they sold like 8 of them, California basically, because of their abysmal range of just 120 Miles, but I bought one cheap here because sales were down, and I both didn't want to or could afford a 70K$ Tesla, and I got so much more equipment and extras for 20k$ so the only thing I worried about was the kinda false rumors that EV haters spreads about those cars, I've got nothing against ICE cars at all, but the gasoline became so expensive here after a while, and I got a great offer so I tested it out, turns out it's not as bad as the rumors are.

      My MX-30 has about 5% reduced range during the winter here now, and it was -12c at worst, granted - I don't have a an American distance to work, so about 21 miles for my part, and it works just fine for what it is. I charge at home so it's always ready in the morning, kinda nice not having to go to the gas station all the time.

      ICE cars gets reduced range during the winter too, but since even the smallest ICE car has a minimum of 350 miles and usually way above that, it's barely noticeable in the winter.

      And the thing is, in E.U. we don't really have large distances to travel, we're small countries when you compare us to even American states, so most of us don't travel much more than 30 miles each day anyway. The exception is when you wanna go to some holiday destination once a year, or visit relatives far away, for that you can just hire a cheap bucket of a car for a few bucks, so it's just really an "imagined" problem.

    • I guess either 80% of Norwegians don't drive in winter or that's bullshit.
    • by orzetto ( 545509 )

      Someone better alert all these EV buyers that electric cars don't work in the winter!

      I'm a Norwegian EV owner, I drove two winters ago from Trondheim to Røros, literally the coldest town in Norway, driving about 100 km on a contiguous ice sheet under which the road was, and had absolutely zero problems. Take your bullshit elsewhere.

      • The main cars that have problems are the ones that don't have any way to heat up the battery pack. If you have a Tesla or most EV's made since around 2018, then you'll have this feature. If you have something like an old Nissan Leaf before 2018, then they suffer pretty badly if they are kept in the cold. I have such an EV and it's a bit inconvenient in the Winter. Mileage goes from around 90 miles down to about 40-50 in the worst cases. It's bad but not terrible. I am hoping to replace the battery at some p
      • That woosh you just heard is the sarcasm flying overhead :)

    • Ahhh nice sarcasm. Oh wait. ArchieBunker, ... Ahhh nice ignorance.

  • by 0xG ( 712423 ) on Tuesday January 02, 2024 @11:38AM (#64124703)

    Norweigans can afford electric cars, because
    they make so much money selling OIL from the north sea.
    These articles are so hypocritical.

    • by 0xG ( 712423 )

      Oops, hipocritical

    • Norwegians don't sell oil. They are normal people like you and I who work a variety of jobs to make money, some of which they spend on cars. The government sells oil, and the government isn't buying Teslas for anyone.

      There's nothing hypocritical about the article. Your post is just ignorant of how the world works.

      Also you spelled hypocritical right the first time.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The point is that even in a very large, cold country which is partly inside the Arctic circle, EVs work just fine. You don't need 9000 miles of range and a 5 second recharge time. Home charging for apartment and residential streets is a solvable problem.

  • In shocking news (no pun intended) people will buy new toys if the government subsidizes them heavily:

    From Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news... [bloomberg.com]

    By Willem Marx
    July 26, 2023 at 12:01 AM EDT
    Norway’s generous tax incentives and subsidies for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure have created the world’s most successful market for battery-powered autos. In May and June, more than 96% of new passenger car purchases were EVs or hybrids, and last year the Tesla Model Y became the bestsell

  • I'm curious. From the summary, Teslas are 20% of the market and EVs in general are 82%. Who's selling the other 60%? TFA mentions VW has about 10% share, that's still a lot of market to account for.

    I'm surprised by the numbers. In the US, EVs are still quite expensive compared to ICE vehicles. TFA also mentions that the most popular model is the model Y at 452,000 Crowns (or $44,000 dollars). That seems high for a mass market car but I guess all the SUVs I see driving around here sell for similar amounts so

    • The Model Y in Sweden starts at 55K USD, and thats just the base model with no extras, then you have the long range at 64K and 69K usd for the performance, and lets face it, no one buys the base model unless it's well equipped, which Teslas are notorious for not being, unless you subscribe to your features later, on a monthly basis, which adds a LOT to the costs.

      There's a lot more attractive cars made by manufacturers that have 100+ years experience in making cars, these don't fail as often and have generou

      • I have the most basic offered Tesla, the Model 3. It has rear drive only. Other than that, it has heating steering and seats, remote climate control, 270 miles (stated) range, yeah they all seem to do that. It's still plenty powerful to effortless climb the LA grapevine at 75mph passing powerful ICE cars that are constantly gear selecting (like my well powered SUV does).

        The only subscription offered is $99/yr that gets you some of the streaming add-ons on the display, traffic info and remote access to the c

        • That's a pretty sweet deal, but you got a lot of rebates, which helps you a lot. We didn't get a single rebate, so sales are very slow in Sweden. They ended all rebates (subsidicing) in year 2022 so there was a rush to buy EV cars here then, they got 7500$.

          In my case the Dealer told me no one buys ev-cars from him after that, and those low-range cars sold very slowly so he sold his wife the car to get the rebate (because it doesn't apply to dealers) and his wife sold back the car to the dealership, they sti

  • I've been a happy Tesla owner since 2013. If you can charge at home and rarely drive round trips, or use it as a second car it's perfect. Better than ICE cars in every way.

    EVs suck when you have to drive thousands of miles. Tradesmen pulling heavy loads won't be happy at all. There simply are use cases where today's EVs don't make sense. In a free society governed by regulated capitalism, the market will reject 100% EVs - period full stop. We cannot force 100% adoption as it will spark yet another politic

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