Electric vehicle sales in the United States is an interesting subject. Despite having well over 200 million licensed drivers, the number of those drivers that purchase electric vehicles is well below that of many countries worldwide. And while the United States did see a sharp increase in electric-vehicle registrations at the start of 2022, bringing EV share of the overall market up to a historic 4.6%, electric vehicles still account for a small portion overall compared with the rest of the world, which reached an 11% share in 2o22—and is light years behind the numbers that European countries such as Norway and Iceland put up. Electric vehicles comprise almost 80 percent of new vehicle sales in Norway, and in Iceland the number is a still respectable 60 percent.
The automobile market varies greatly from place to place within the U.S. itself. Californians buy more EVs than drivers in any other state, which also extends to plug-in hybrid and hybrid sales numbers. Market share for electric vehicles tends to be strongest in metropolitan areas, but the numbers drop sharply in less densely populated rural areas.
Tag: Norway
The city of Oslo is taking this initiative and moving ahead of the national government.
Einar Wilhelmsen is a member of the Green Party and the finance minister for Oslo. At the Nordic EV conference recently, he told Elbil, the Norwegian electric car association, “It is important that we stop selling fossil cars. That process must be turned off completely. It is clear that we will struggle to get rid of every fossil car sold now, so this should simply not happen anymore.”
The City Council plans to create a zero emissions zone in the center of the city where only electric vehicles will be permitted, a policy initiative that will encourage people to buy electric cars. In coming years, that zone will be expanded to cover more of the city. The city does not intend to ban the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars and trucks. It believes its zero emissions zones will accomplish that goal without resorting to mandates.
Nio is venturing out of China, starting in EV-friendly Norway. After taking a look at the NIO House in Oslo, and the NIO All-In-One-Lifestyle-Package they are promoting, DW reviews the Nio ES8, a competitor with Tesla’s Model X.
Nio is expanding in Europe. Expect them in Germany in Q4 2022.
Andy Corbley / Good News Network »
Built by Yara to transport their mineral fertilizer stocks between the towns of Porsgrunn and Brevik, a trip which normally requires 40,000 trips by diesel truck per year, the Yara Birkeland will save around 1,000 tons of CO2 annually.
On November 19th, Yara Birkeland departed for a crewed maiden voyage—which included Norway’s prime minister—on a short 43-mile trip across the fjord from Horton to Oslo.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time,” stated Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara. “This is an excellent example of green transition in practice, and we hope this ship will be the start of a new type of emission-free container ships. There are a lot of places in the world with congested roads that will benefit from a high-tech solution like this.”
Onboard the 262-foot (80 meter) vessel is a 6.8 megawatt-hours battery pack that can generate 17 mph (28 kph). It can carry 3,200 tons of fertilizer, and should begin commercial operations next year while it carries out lengthy certification for its autonomous navigation technology.
The Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans, announced at the COP26 climate summit, includes a commitment to “work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets”.
Ford, General Motors, Geely-owned Volvo, Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz, BYD, and Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover all signed the commitment.
Major automakers notably absent include Toyota (unsurprisingly*), Volkswagen, BMW, Renault, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, and Stellantis.
Toyota Motors is the third most obstructive company in the world, actively lobbying against national climate policies. They are third behind gas and oil giants ExxonMobile and Chevron.
Chinese-owned Sweden-based Volvo has already committed to going fully electric by 2030.
Countries that did sign the declaration include » Austria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
Major auto producing countries notably absent include » China, Germany, Japan, and the United States.
Canadian provinces of British Columbia, and Quebec also committed.
VW ID.4 GTX
In Norway, 8,116 new EVs were registered in October 2921, giving pure electric cars a 70.1 percent share of all new registrations for the month. This represents an increase of 3.1 percent, when compared to the 7,873 BEV registrations in October 2020.
The Volkswagen ID.4, with 913 registrations, was the model with the most new registrations in October.
88,674 new BEVs have been registered so far this year, according to the Norwegian Road Information Agency (OFV). This represents a market share of 63.1 percent from the beginning of January to the end of October. These numbers represent purely battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and not hybrid vehicles.