Norway speeds ahead of EU in race for fossil-free roads

If only they decided a 'leave it in the ground' policy with the rest of their oil and gas reserves, this government would be truly stand out as an example of a responsible government.

Norway has relatively low poverty levels. Most of Europe has higher rates of poverty. The UK is much higher.

Poor people don't buy Teslas, and later tax exemptions are no use to people who cannot afford initial purchases. Where I live, most people rely on the cheapest 2nd hand ICE cars they can find that actually work.

ULEZ-style taxes come with a lot of toxic baggage, political damage and reductions in house prices.

Plus there are only 5.5m people in Norway. 68m (UK, France), 84m (Germany).

Reducing the cost of EVs is tougher now that electricity has been artificially hiked in price. And the charging infrastructure is generally poor across Europe. If there was a shift to EVs it would really stress some power grids, particularly if sovereign AI data centres are seen as a priority by governments.

Manufacturing at scale is also a problem.

Even if the above could all be fixed, there is no basic, low-cost 'Model T' EV, stripped of all the unnecessary tech, available to replace low cost/2nd hand ICE vehicles that are all a huge chunk of the people in many countries can afford. The closest thing would be cheap Chinese EVs, and the EU have just anteceded Trump and put large tariffs on them.

The UK government is circulating the idea of raising the age at which people can drive to try to reduce the number of people who can only afford cheaper (ICE) vehicles. But how will these people get to work? The UK didn't have adequate public transport links before Covid and Brexit, and since then, they have markedly declined. Fewer trains, fewer bus routes, higher costs, not enough staff. And last week the UKG raised the cost cap on bus fares from £2 to £3 per journey, taking £12pw out of the pockets of lower-waged people who might use buses to get to work.

So a switch to public transport is unlikely, and it will be a long time before the EV % climbs to Norwegian levels in the rest of Europe. I think I've only seen a couple of EVs locally, and nobody in the area I live in has one.

We needed to be wealthy to speed the green transition, but the last 6 or 7 years of political decisions by governments have made most of us poorer. Far fewer people now have the additional cash required for EVs and solar panels. It won't be a sprint or a marathon, but a long, slow jog. If that. Recent political decisions like the tariffs, bus fare caps and higher electricity seem to be sending out the message that it is no longer a priority. Preparations for a cold/world war are taking precedence.

It is pretty easy to spend money on "green" projects and lecture others about the evil of fossil fuels, when one is swimming in money from oil exports. Maybe Saudi Arabia wants to join Norway in this brilliant idea?

Bravo!

Seeing how cold Norwegian winters are and how lithium batteries behave in low temperatures, the virtue signalling Norwegian government would make Norway the laughing stock of the word in a sane world.