Electric car sales rise in Norway

No other country can match Norway’s proportion of all-electric cars, but mostly the e-cars are seen as an urban phenomenon. Luckily, several initiatives are trying to make it easier to travel more eco-friendly in sparsely populated areas as well.

The number of electric cars has exploded in Norway, and out of every sold electric car in Europe, 35 per cent ends up in Norway. Mostly this is thanks to generous subsidies and incentives that the Norwegian government offers to encourage the adoption of e-cars.

Even though there are many benefits of owning an electric car, their range cannot compare to the range of cars running on fossil fuels. And that’s a problem for some, as many Norwegians travel to their cabins or go skiing in the mountains during weekends. Some prefer to use a petrol-fueled car for these longer trips.

However, several intiatives are trying to change that. Recently four, brand new, quick chargers were opened in Setesdal valley in the county of Aust-Agder. These new stations in Evje, Bygland, Valle and Bykle makes sure that you can do the full 220 kilometer trip between Kristiansand and the popular skiing destination Hovden through Setesdal without any problems. “We call ourself «The Green Valley», and this project gives the sustainability term real meaning”, says Lasse Eidskrem from Destination Hovden. There are a few quick chargers in Setesdal already, but this has been a unitary development project, which Setesdal regional council hopes will help make the destination authorized as a sustainable destination. “We hope to be able to promote ourself as a little greener than the others”, says Eidskrem.

The new quick chargers fits all brands and models, and has been set up with support from the county, Enova and several local participants. Among other things, a local electrician company assembled the actual charger stations. The chargers are located close to shopping opportunities, which makes it easy to kill the 30 minutes it takes to charge up your veichle. Payment for the charge can be done using both SMS and chip. There is a total of 7334 charging points spread out on 1830 charging stations in Norway.

SOURCE: www.visitnorway.com