Tesla boom lifts Norway's electric car sales to record market share

[Zorro]

Source: Reuters

Almost 60 percent of all new cars sold in Norway in March were fully electric, the Norwegian Road Federation (NRF) said on Monday, a global record as the country seeks to end fossil-fueled vehicles sales by 2025.

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.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-autos/tesla-boom-lifts-norways-electric-car-sales-to-58-percent-market-share-idUSKCN1RD2BB

[winstars]

1. But, but when the wind stops blowing....

[yaesu]

2. Also, batteries are becoming more efficient & less expensive

so making & buying electric vehicles will be more affordable. I hope to see a lot more competition in the not too far future.

[truthisfreedom]

3. Tesla has built one or more giga-factories to manufacture batteries

So they’ll grow faster with the industry as well.

[yaesu]

5. Tesla is definitely at the forefront of E car technology & probably will be for decades to come. nt

[Brother Buzz]

4. Frankie "The Fixer" Tagliano wasn't to enthralled with his electric car

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

8. Love that show...

... and how about the Norwegian prison system? Connecticut is working on a penal system using the Scandinavian style of rehabilitation.

[madaboutharry]

12. I loved Lilyhammer.

It is too bad they didn’t make more seasons.

[DBoon]

6. so are Norwegians complaining about this?

In the USA, we would get complaints about electric vehicles not paying their "fair share", about how owners of gas hogs are being "unfairly taxed".

We even get these complaints on DU

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. As electric vehicles become more prevalent, some sort of tax shift will need to happen.

The fewer and fewer gas/diesel vehicles can't pay for all the road maintenance for the electric vehicles' "free ride".

Maybe we'll have to eliminate gas/diesel tax altogether and charge big money for license plates. Or some other cost-spreading solution.

If the Green New Deal eliminates all fossil fuel usage, how will road repairs be funded?

[DBoon]

10. Norway encourages clean energy

While we fret about being fair to monster truck owners

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. No, but at some point we have to fret about money to fix roads.

If fuel tax money keeps shrinking, how should we make up the deficit? License fees? Tolls on all roads? Income tax? Go-fund-me?

[WhiteTara]

13. Shouldn't it be based on mileage?

An annual mileage tax based on use.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. Good idea. That might be a good factor, if mileage data can be reliably collected.

Maybe mileage and weight, since both relate to road degradation.

It would have to be reviewed by people smarter than me, to ensure it's not more of a regressive tax than the current gas taxes.

[WhiteTara]

20. That's my thouht too.

[ffr]

7. Norway is leading the way, showing the world how it's done.

If you want a future for your children, tough choices need to be made and major sweeping change needs to happen. Waiting for the perfect solution or complaining that breaking our dependency on convenient fossil fuels that endanger life on Earth DOES NOT CUT IT.

If you're a fossil fuel apologist or whine the renewables are too inconvenient, it's time to change.

[Kaleva]

18. I believe it's already too late as the tipping point has already been passed.

Reducing the amount of carbon dioxide we put into the atmosphere will do nothing for our children and grandchildren as climate change is already here. We see the evidence now with rising sea levels, abnormal weather conditions, melting polar ice, the acidification of the oceans and so on but people continue to delude themselves into thinking that reducing the amount of CO2 we put into the atmosphere every year will reverse that. It won't.

Climate change is here. People need to prepare to adapt to it.

[ffr]

21. Cannot disagree with you there.

Billions are going to die. Our future looks horrible.

[MichMan]

14. Norway taxes gasoline and diesel powered vehicles around 100% of the price

Therefore a $45K Volvo will cost around $90K. They have exempted electric vehicles from the tax.

While doing so would make electric vehicles just as popular here as they are in Norway, I don't recall any of our politicians advocating that we follow their lead and impose a 100% tax on all new car purchases. Perhaps it is because there are no auto manufacturing plants or jobs in Norway to be concerned about?

[Fred Sandman]

15. 100% tax? Link?

[Brother Buzz]

17. It's not a 100% tax, but it's steep enough to make electric vehicles....

competitively priced with comparable gas and diesel vehicles.

[SKKY]

19. This is fairly remarkable given electric vehicles perform poorly in colder weather...

...Damn socialist country!!!!