Changing oil: self-driving vehicles and the Norwegian state

Bård Torvetjønn Haugland

doi:10.1057/s41599-020-00667-9

Abstract

Expectations regarding the imminent arrival of self-driving vehicles has prompted nations to embed such vehicles in policy and explore their potential through pilot projects. The article analyses interviews and document to explore the politics of self-driving vehicles in Norway. Using sociotechnical imaginaries as a theoretical starting point, the article finds that Norwegian policy and legislation frame self-driving vehicles in rather general terms, primarily citing expected economic gains and prospects of improving the transport sector. When these policies were operationalized in the transport innovation project Borealis, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration grafted the policies onto distinctively Norwegian use-cases: self-driving vehicles and associated infrastructures were envisioned to benefit the Norwegian fishing industry, have ramifications for standardization work within the European Union, and possibly foster a Norwegian high-tech industry. The prospect of a high-tech industry links self-driving vehicles to the green shift, a collectively imagined future in which the Norwegian petroleum industry has been phased out and replaced by ‘greener’ industries. In sum, self-driving vehicles are mobilized both as a desirable transport innovation and as part of a national narrative: through innovation relating to such vehicles, Norway might be able to phase out a petroleum-reliant economy while remaining an affluent nation with high levels of social welfare.

Highlights

In May 2018, three freight trucks could be seen thundering across the snowy landscape of Northern Norway
I contend that self-driving vehicles were institutionalized as part of a sociotechnical imaginary, not an imaginary centred on self-driving vehicles
I have suggested that the Norwegian interest in self-driving vehicles should be interpreted in light of Norway’s history as a resource-based economy and in particular the nation’s petroleum industry, rather than as transport policy

Summary

Introduction

In May 2018, three freight trucks could be seen thundering across the snowy landscape of Northern Norway. The trucks navigated the winding roads while maintaining equal distances between them. The three trucks were connected through ‘advanced radar and camera technology’, which allowed the driver in the lead truck to control the acceleration and braking of all three trucks.. The event marked Norway’s first demonstration of truck platooning—the digital coupling of the acceleration and deceleration of multiple trucks in a convoy. The occasion for the demonstration was the opening ceremony of the Borealis project, which is funded by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). In this project, the NPRA has fashioned a 40 kilometre (km) stretch of public road (Fig. 1c) into a site for testing intelligent transport system (ITS) technologies in an arctic environment

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion