Why Norway — the poster child for electric cars — is having second thoughts
Why Norway — the poster child for electric cars — is having second thoughts
Electric cars are crucial, but not enough to solve climate change. We can’t let them crowd out car-free transit options.
For the record, the problem in Norway was that government programs to encourage electric vehicle ownership were too successful and incentivized people to drive instead of use transit. Also, the financial incentives for purchasing electric cars mostly went to people who were already wealthy.
Who would've thunk that adding just another lane makes more cars appear.
Journalism is fucking dead, what the hell is that fucking title, clickbaiting trash
But is it a clickbait in this case? The title is exactly the question the article thoroughly answers.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
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.
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.
The federal government now offers tantalizing rebates to Americans in the market for an electric car, but nothing at all for more climate-friendly vehicles like e-bikes or golf carts (nor a financial lifeline for beleaguered public subway and bus systems).
“The argument is to make the tax system more fair,” said transportation state secretary Kroglund, “and not give benefits for things that are unnecessary for the transition to EVs.” As a result of the new policies, Norwegian sales of some high-end EVs, like the enormous Chinese Hongqi SUV, have collapsed.
The national government’s decision to subsidize electric cars but not e-bikes makes no sense from a climate perspective, although the United States Congress made the same mistake when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act last year.
But if local initiatives aren’t matched with supportive federal policies, Norway’s experience suggests that an influx of electric vehicles can hinder efforts to escape the automobile’s urban stranglehold.
The original article contains 2,849 words, the summary contains 236 words. Saved 92%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
It makes me think about a saying « the best energy is the one we’re not using ».
And also about capitalism, as the EV rise is great for companies as they can sell you an expensive car you’re only gonna own for a maximum of 20 years.
Weather a muscular bike is gonna last forever and only be sold once for a limited amount of money.
Still, I love cars, so I ain’t perfect..
20 years if you're really lucky.
They're only required to make parts for 10 years, and batteries don't age well.
My current vehicle is 17 years old, has 270k on it, I expect to easily get another 10+ years and another 100k. Even then, I won't get rid of it, just use it as a spare, so when I or any of my family/friends need a vehicle because there's is down, it's available. Our newest car is 7 years old, approaching 100k miles. I expect another 15-20 years out of it.
There are cars in my family that are 30 years old, still running, still getting 30 mpg. Yea, engines have been rebuilt, once, they aren't pretty, paint is faded, chipping, etc. But they still work fine. Even have AC.
Ev's are the ultimate in planned obsolescence. If we didn't have cash for clunkers, lots more perfectly serviceable cars would still be on the road.