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https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23939076/norway-electric-vehicle-cars-evs-tesla-oslo>
"OSLO, Norway — With motor vehicles generating nearly a 10th of global CO2
emissions, governments and environmentalists around the world are scrambling to
mitigate the damage. In wealthy countries, strategies often revolve around
electrifying cars — and for good reason, many are looking to Norway for
inspiration.
Over the last decade, Norway has emerged as the world’s undisputed leader in
electric vehicle adoption. With generous government incentives available, 87
percent of the country’s new car sales are now fully electric, a share that
dwarfs that of the European Union (13 percent) and the United States (7
percent). Norway’s muscular EV push has garnered headlines in outlets like the
New York Times and the
Guardian while drawing praise from the Environmental
Defense Fund, the World Economic Forum, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. “I’d like to
thank the people of Norway again for their incredible support of electric
vehicles,” he tweeted last December. “Norway rocks!!”
I’ve been writing about transportation for the better part of a decade, so all
that fawning international attention piqued my curiosity. Does Norway offer a
climate strategy that other countries could copy chapter and verse? Or has the
hype outpaced the reality?
So I flew across the Atlantic to see what the fuss was about. I discovered a
Norwegian EV bonanza that has indeed reduced emissions — but at the expense of
compromising vital societal goals. Eye-popping EV subsidies have flowed largely
to the affluent, contributing to the gap between rich and poor in a country
proud of its egalitarian social policies.
Worse, the EV boom has hobbled Norwegian cities’ efforts to untether themselves
from the automobile and enable residents to instead travel by transit or
bicycle, decisions that do more to reduce emissions, enhance road safety, and
enliven urban life than swapping a gas-powered car for an electric one."
Via Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
