The road to electric is filled with tiny cars

Re:The road to electric is filled with tiny cars by Yaggo on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @06:56AM (#26236266)

There are probably multiple factors:

  - Norway is a rich country with high standard of living, people are used to drive "big" cars

  – Northern climate and terrain with lot of mountains probably plays a role, capable AWDs are popular

  - Low population density, plenty of space for cars, excluding small city centers

  - Electric is cheap in Norway due to hydro

  – Electric cars are "cheap" in Norway due to low tax & high GDP

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The road to electric is filled with tiny cars by bluGill on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @10:58AM (#26238769)

I would say the difference is mostly rich. I suspect the poor people in China would prefer the large car too, but that isn't a practice option. The article makes it clear that the customers include a lot of people who can't get a drivers license, and given that China isn't exactly a rich country (they are improving and have a lot of rich, but overall they have a lot of poor people)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The road to electric is filled with tiny cars by gspr on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @07:13AM (#26236394)

> plenty of space for cars, excluding small city centers

EVs are, in fact, more popular in the cities. And Norwegian cities are not very welcoming to cars.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The road to electric is filled with tiny cars by fomine3 on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @08:58PM (#26245696)

I've heard that Norway/Finland already had block heater pole for car that's basically similar to charging station, is it true?

http://www.ieahev.org/by-country/finland-charging-infrastruc...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The road to electric is filled with tiny cars by Yaggo on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @01:13AM (#26247134)

True, although often the older poles are wired only for 8 amps or so, needing re-wiring for safe EV charging. But the culture of "plugging in" the car already exists.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The road to electric is filled with tiny cars by Yaggo on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @01:24AM (#26247200)

I live in Finland and drive a Tesla. I often hear people saying that EVs are "city cars" and not suitable elsewhere because of cold winter and long distances. Actually the opposite is true.

- In countryside people drive more by average -> more savings

- Practically every house has at least 3*25A power lines (230V) -> 11 kW charging from "red socket"

- EVs are just fine in winter because of quick remote pre-heating, no need to idle the engine etc

Btw, I just made a long trip in -20°C / -4°F. Of course the range is significantly shorter than in summer because heating needs energy, but there are no fundamental problems with the batteries itself.

[ Parent | on HN ]