Norway

For the first time, Norway has used a semi electric truck with 1,000 kWh battery capacity to clear heavy snow on challenging mountain passes.

On Wednesday, the Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) completed its bi-annual El Prix event that tests the range of dozens of popular EVs from around the globe and various price brackets. While Tesla has dominated the last four years, 2024’s winter edition of the El Prix saw a newcomer not only deliver the most range in cold weather but also come closest to its advertised range.

Norway won’t be issuing a recall of Tesla Model S and X vehicles in the country after a government investigation into suspension safety issues – the same one Reuters wrote about in its investigation, targeting Tesla for blaming customers for faulty parts, which Tesla then fired back at on X.

It’s no surprise that Norway is leading the world in EV adoption, but 2023 saw the country reach new heights with electric vehicles taking a record 82% market share, and Tesla with a whopping 20% market share. And despite Tesla’s ongoing labor disputes in the region and blocks on imports, new car registrations for Tesla vehicles in Sweden grew by 9% in December.

It’s common knowledge that Norway is the land of electric cars and that the country keeps breaking EV sales records with virtually no new fossil vehicle sales. But what’s really important is the effect those EVs are having on oil sales, which are in steep decline in the country as a result – and the same thing could happen elsewhere.

Citing a massive consumer demand overseas, Ford is expanding its ultra-popular F-150 Lightning to markets outside the US for the first time, beginning in Norway. Ford says it will kick off its entry to Europe with a limited number of F-150 Lightning Lariat Launch Editions, equipped to handle Norway’s snowy terrain, as you’ll see in the images and video below.

Scania AB, a Swedish commercial automotive manufacturer, has delivered Norway’s largest electric truck. The 66-ton mammoth will transport around 120,000 tonnes of lime annually, reducing emissions on the route by 156 tons.

Wind turbines usually consist of one turbine with a set of blades, but Norway’s Wind Catching Systems thinks its floating multi-turbine offshore wind technology will make clean energy more efficiently.

Swedish wind turbine maker SeaTwirl got the go-ahead to test its 1 megawatt (MW) S2X vertical-axis floating offshore prototype in Norway.

Aluminum and energy giant Hydro and floating wind specialist World Wide Wind will build an offshore floating wind turbine out of aluminum.

We often hear about how Norway is an electric car utopia, an example of a country that went all in on EVs and reaped the benefits. And so I went there myself to see what all the fuss was about. I expected to find a massive amount of electric cars, and I did. But what I didn’t realize was that those electric cars are only a part of the bigger story behind Norway’s sustainable transportation ambitions.

Leading the charge toward a cleaner future, Norway hit a new record in 2022, as nearly four of every five cars sold were electric. According to the latest registration date, Norway is well on its way to becoming the first nation to end gas-powered car sales by 2025.

Hyundai will stop selling any cars with ICE engines in them, including plug-in hybrids, in Norway starting 2023 – one day from now.

Hywind Tampen, the world’s largest and Norway’s first floating offshore wind farm, powered up yesterday for the first time.

Volkswagen says it will only sell EVs in Norway as soon as 2024, which is ahead of regulations forcing the German automaker to do so. But this is likely something that is happening naturally in the market and every automaker is going to have to follow.

The first of 11 8.6 megawatt (MW) turbines has been installed at the world’s largest floating wind farm, off the Norwegian coast. Hywind Tampen is also Norway’s first offshore wind farm – and it will power offshore oil and gas platforms.

While life may soon start to feel a little less sweet for EV owners in Norway, the country is eyeing its next strategic move toward an even greener future, and that means fewer private cars (even electric varieties) clogging the roads in favor of walking, cycling, and taking the bus.

Norway is again breaking electric vehicle adoption records with 82% of new vehicles sold last quarter being battery-electric.

Tesla Model Y is leading the charge with a lot of deliveries last month.

As EV adoption continues to grow around the world, Europe in particular appears to be moving at a quicker pace. With automakers vowing to go all electric as a result of laws to eventually eliminate the sale of combustion vehicles, countries overseas are well on their way to fully embracing zero-emissions vehicles. A new study used historical date to predict where European countries will stand in 2035, based on new EV registrations.

Norway is again showing that the all-electric car future is closer than people think, as November car sales in the country see internal combustion engine car sales crumble.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Tevva debuts an electric truck that’s ready for production at its new UK factory.
• The world’s longest subsea power cable, between the UK and Norway, goes live.
• ChargeUp Europe announces its 18th member.
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