The mobility revolution as seen through Norwegian eyes

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Norwegian electric vehicle deployment success came about for several reasons. The country's huge hydropower capacity delivering 99% of its electric energy has been the backbone of the argument for the introduction of electric vehicles here since 1988. This was coupled with the design and implementation of the world's most generous incentives for battery electric vehicles (BEV) from 1994, an act that later led to soaring sales. In 2012, 3% of all cars sold in Norway were BEVs and Norway was the World's 5th largest volume market for BEVs. By the end of 2017 there were over 142,490 BEVs and by 2020 it is forecasted that every second car sold will be a BEV. However, in addition to the BEV sales, the sales of Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) have soared. In the first two months of 2017, 49% of all sold personal cars, not vans and buses, in Norway were BEVs and PHEVs. The order book for March 2018 of one large supplier, Volkswagen (VW), showed that 70,4% of the personal car orders were electric (BEVs and PHEVs). The goal is an all-electric vehicle fleet. The paper responds to three questions: 1. How did this success come about? 2. What is the link between electric vehicles and buildings? 3. What can case studies such as that of Norway teach us about the mobility revolution?