Search Results Found For: "Norway"

New venture aims to redefine the EV buying experience

Auto dealerships have emerged as a major roadblock on the way to widespread EV adoption. Most (but not all) dealers have little knowledge of or interest in EVs, and some actively discourage customers from buying. Tesla’s direct-sales model seems to work well enough, but even the Prophets of Palo Alto can’t save the world alone…. Read more »

Fortum collaborates with Swedish electric utility to deploy 30 public charging stations

Scandinavian charging network operator Fortum Charge & Drive is collaborating with Swedish electricity company Jönköping Energi to install 30 public charging stations in the city of Jönköping. The project will begin this fall, and is expected to last two years. Jönköping Energi will own and manage the stations, which will be linked to the 600-station… Read more »

Nordic plug-in market soars in Q1 2016

13,896 new plug-in vehicles hit the roads of Scandinavia in the first quarter of 2016. Both Norway and Finland had their best-selling quarters to date. However, sales in Denmark stalled as the government phased out tax breaks. As reported by auto industry publication Insero Quarterly, EVs are still outselling PHEVs, but the latter are closing… Read more »

German government announces 1 billion euro EV and PHEV subsidy program

Several European nations, notably Norway and the Netherlands, offer generous incentive programs to support e-mobility. Germany, the continent’s largest auto market, has been a conspicuous exception until now. This week, the German government announced a new incentive scheme worth about 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion). The costs are to be shared equally between the government… Read more »

Musk: Probability of accidents 50% lower with Autopilot

It’s generally expected that autonomous vehicles will prove to be safer than those driven by fallible humans, but hard figures will be needed to convince regulators and a skeptical public. During a talk in Norway, Elon Musk said that Tesla is beginning to amass some statistics on the safety of its Autopilot-equipped vehicles. “The probability… Read more »

A Tesla city bus?

By itself, vehicle electrification does nothing to alleviate the traffic jams in our cities or the sprawl in our suburbs. But autonomous EVs, working together as part of a coordinated public transit system, could move people around much more smoothly and conveniently. Naturally, Elon Musk has thought about this – he has called gridlock “a… Read more »

Will Model 3 owners have unlimited free access to the Supercharger network?

Tesla’s Supercharger network is one of the brand’s greatest assets – a valuable benefit for customers and a strong selling point against the (so far, mostly theoretical) competition. Since the Model 3 hit the stage, one of the hottest questions has been, will 3 buyers get the same free Supercharging privileges that S and X… Read more »

New report from JATO details German EV market

Germany is Europe’s third-largest market for plug-in vehicles, and sales are growing quickly. However, electrified vehicles still represent a minute fraction of the overall automotive market, and better information for consumers will be necessary to get the country to start plugging in. These are among the conclusions of a new report from London-based automotive business… Read more »

2016 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron delivers performance and practicality

The selection of plug-in vehicles available to US buyers continues to grow steadily – it now stands at 27 models, with several more expected this year. The latest entrant to the market is the 2016 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, the German luxury brand’s first plug-in model available in the US. Every time a new plug-in… Read more »

While US EV sales shrank, Europe’s almost doubled

What a difference a year or two makes. Not so long ago, we EV pundits were trying to figure out why EV sales were so slow in Europe compared to the US, despite the continent’s green reputation and high gas prices. Now they must be wondering the same about us. Annual US plug-in sales actually… Read more »