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Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by rcMgD2BwE72F on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @03:47PM (#19566600)
Are you saying that there's some kind of externalities at play here?

Because I can think of a few other externalities that help non-EV far more than the ones you mentioned (not taxing them for ruining our health and climate, for a start).

This all seems an overdue correction to me. But I'd go further and support non-individual transportation more, too.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by slavik81 on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:30PM (#19567016)
None of the things mentioned in the grandparent post are externalities. An externality is a consequence of some action or some transaction for people who were not a part of it. A tax or subsidy directly affects the purchaser, and is thus not an externality.
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by drexlspivey on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @06:42PM (#19567835)
Norway has large oil deposits. They export it and put the money in a sovereign wealth fund and use it to subsidise environmental policies. In essence this is payed by oil that someone else is burning.
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by hc8bn1 on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:04PM (#19566777)
Whether the taxes are just or not is irrelevant here; pretending people are buying EVs just because they like them better (which is what I get from the headline) is deceptive.
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by hello_friendos on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:13PM (#19566873)
"Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway Making Up Nearly 60 Percent of Sales in March"

Where does the headline suggest that? It simply states the makeup of sales.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by hc8bn1 on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:18PM (#19566921)
Yeah, it doesn't. But to me it sounds like that % of sales is organic. I mean, that's why it's news, no?

I think it's much more newsworthy that 40% of cars sold use petrol, when they cost DOUBLE because of taxes.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by Reason077 on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @07:32PM (#19568120)
They don’t cost double. In many cases petrol cars are still cheaper than their electric counterparts in Norway. Hyundai Kona petrol, for example, is slightly cheaper than Hyundai Kona electric.

But because of their tax exempt status, the price premium for electrics is much smaller in Norway than in most other countries.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by magicalhippo on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:23PM (#19566962)
EVs do a lot of things better than gasoline vehicles beyond the reduced taxes. Maybe not huge things but still...

One small thing which I've started to really appreciate is the almost non-existing engine noise. So relaxing driving it.

Also the superior acceleration comes in handy many times.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by rootusrootus on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @03:52PM (#19566636)
Well, if you're going to blame non-EV cars for all sorts of negative externalities, you're going to need to figure out how to credit them for the positive externalities too. That's a tall order.
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by beefield on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @03:55PM (#19566678)
You happen to have any examples of positive externalities non-EV cars have that EV cars do not have?
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by CamperBob2 on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:22PM (#19566952)
Well, for one thing, anything that incentivizes the development and deployment of better batteries and power conversion technology will have massive benefits for us all. Renewable energy is more about storing power than generating it.
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by reaperducer on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @03:59PM (#19566730)
Not the OP. And this is not for cars, specifically, but we're a very long way away from electric fire trucks, ambulances, and construction equipment.

Also, I'm not sure what the OP is on about with this:

not taxing them for ruining our health and climate, for a start

Since electric cars aren't taxed, either, that's just playing with numbers.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by sbierwagen on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:13PM (#19566869)
Why can't you electrify ambulances? They're specialized taxis, many short trips, spending a lot of time parked. Only time you need long range is for patient transfer between hospitals. Fire trucks only make short trips, and (ideally) have a tiny capacity ratio.

Ditto for construction vehicles, which rarely travel long distances, often want to be heavy for greater traction, and can have surprisingly low power output. (The Cat D5K2 weighs 20,000 pounds but only has a 105 HP engine: https://www.cat.com/en_US/products/new/equipment/dozers/smal... )

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by reaperducer on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @06:21PM (#19567733)
Why can't you electrify ambulances?

I can't speak for Norway, but in the United States it is very common for Ambulances to travel difficult roads and sometimes non-roads. They have heavy-duty engines for a reason.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by TylerE on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:25PM (#19566981)
Don't confuse power with torque. Big diesel engines run at super low RPM, so have low HP but high torque (since HP is just torque * RPM * a constant).
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by jsight on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:20PM (#19566934)
In business terms, we may be a long way from electric fire trucks, ambulances, and construction equipment.

In terms of the technology, I don't see anything stopping those from happening right now.

Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by douglasisshiny on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @04:05PM (#19566791)
I believe the op is suggesting that there have been significant deferred costs associated with burning fossil fuels.
Re:Electric Cars Hit Record in Norway by rootusrootus on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @05:59PM (#19567590)
How about modern society? The fact that we're even in a technological position to make EVs to begin with? It's all great to hate on cars, but the world we have today is absolutely dependent on them.