Norway’s EV uptake puts Australia to shame – but at least we’re now on the road to skyrocketing electric vehicle sales here as well.
2022 was another record-breaking year for the Scandinavian nation, with 79.3 percent of all new cars sold fully battery-electric vehicles according to the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association. This was a big jump on 2021’s already very impressive 64.5%.
Norway (population: ~5.4 million) also has impressive public EV charging infrastructure to help support all these vehicles. Just in terms of fast chargers, 1,500 were established last year bringing the total to more than 5,600 nationwide.
“Our message to the rest of the world is crystal clear: Now there is no excuse for the internal combustion engines’ (ICE) unnecessary pollution when the climate crisis is so urgent to solve,” says the Association.
Norway’s EV success means the country also has a huge amount of rolling battery storage.
Towards 100% Zero Emissions Vehicles
EV buyers in Norway have enjoyed significant government support to make electric cars more affordable for years.
Back in 2016, the Norwegian Parliament set a goal of all new cars sold by 2025 being zero emissions. It probably seemed over-ambitious to many at the time, but given uptake since it would seem the target may be realised.
However, a significant bump in the road this year towards that target is the reintroduction of a 25% VAT (Value Added Tax) for new electric vehicles above NOK 500,000, which is ~AUD $73,769 at current exchange rates. Also coming into play is a weight tax after the first 500 kilograms that previously only applied to ICE vehicles; including hybrids.
The A-ha EV Factor
It hasn’t just been government support that helped drive initial interest in electric vehicles in Norway. Remember the Norwegian band a-ha? In case you don’t, here’s a reminder circa 1986.
What does a-ha have to do with electric vehicles? Briefly, in the late 1980’s the band imported a Fiat Panda converted to an EV; said to be the first electric vehicle on the Norway’s roads in modern times. It was used in a campaign of civil disobedience to draw attention to alternatives to polluting fossil fuel vehicles and the need for Norway’s government to support them.
More on the a-ha EV story here.
Australian EV Uptake
So, what’s the situation with electric uptake in Australia? Nothing like the success Norway has enjoyed. Yet.
In a report released in October last year, Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council said EVs represented 3.39 per cent of all vehicle sales. It doesn’t sound like much, but this was 65 per cent increase on 2021.
The Electric Vehicle Council pointed to Australia being a laggard on EV policy to blame for low uptake, which made Australia “still something of an afterthought” for global EV manufacturers.
A significant policy failing is a lack of fuel efficiency standards (explained here). This would likely have remained the state of play under an ongoing Morrison Government, but the good news is the Albanese Government is working on implementing fuel efficiency standards.
Curious about electric vehicles? Learn everything you need to know about EV charging, and using home solar power with an electric car.
About Michael Bloch
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Hi Michael,
Is comparing Norway and Australia fair:
They have a 5th of our population but:
1. about 100K km of road vs 878K km (statista)
2. Power 14c per kWh vs 22c in Australia (probably more currently in both regions)
3. 91.5% Hydro in Norway vs 7% in Australia.
With so much Hydro they don’t need battery backup.
It would be interesting to know in Norway:
How many of the EV are V2G enabled?
How many homes have V2G chargers?
The V2G chargers in Australia are very expensive but we need the storage.
Dave
Spot on , Australia’s will not take up EV as our country is way too big for travelling in a EV , and in the city’s everyone does not have access to their own power to charge overnight .
Electric vehicles have the potential to save rural Australians thousands of dollars a year in fuel costs. They also have lower maintenance costs. For these reasons, I expect they will be very popular beyond the black stump. People will have to make sure they purchase a vehicle that meets their needs, but that’s okay. We’re not completely thick. Of course, we should make things easier by requiring car manufacturers to give information on how much range their vehicles get in actual use in this country.
All sounds good in theory Ron but I don’t have the $130,000 plus for the F150 EV pickup that weighs over 5000kg and has limited range with the trailer loaded up.
The cost of the 1st generation EV tractors would make Jeff Bazos gasp. EVs are a good thing in town for those short trips from home to work and running around.
Norway subsidises its EV roll out through the sale of oil and gas through their state owned business. Not really a country we should be comparing ourselves to when you read the small print.
Peter,
Australia continues to remain highly vulnerable to multiple layers of geological & commercial constraints and geopolitical risks influencing petroleum oil & fuel supply markets over which Australia has little (if any) control.
https://crudeoilpeak.info/only-3-4-years-to-replace-save-45-of-australian-diesel-imports
What’s your solution for Australia when (NOT if) petroleum fuels become increasingly scarcer and more unaffordable? Do you think that cannot happen?
Dave Duncalf,
“Is comparing Norway and Australia fair…”
I think the point of Michael’s post is to show (particularly the naysayers here in Australia) what a country can do if it has the will for and policies to effect substantial change.
Norway’s oil production is in decline, so its oil revenues will continue to steadily decline.
http://crudeoilpeak.info/global-peak/norway-peak-oil
It seems to me Norway is working towards minimizing its petroleum fuel consumption. I think that’s smart/prudent, as data I see indicates global crude oil + condensate production appears to have already reached an all-time peak (at 84.4 MB/d in Nov 2018), and global diesel fuel supplies are already in a steady decline (circa 26 MB/d in 2015-18 to below 23 MB/d by mid-2021).
IMO, Norway is currently in a far better transport energy secure position compared with Australia.
Meanwhile, it seems to me many people here in Australia lack relevant knowledge (& imagination), and I’d suggest that’s being facilitated by most of our media.
My point was he is comparing apples to oranges. A system with massive Hydro can not be compared to a system based on Solar/wind. The latter requires storage and FCAS.
Australia is unique with respect to power generation opportunities, lacking hydro and nuclear options. This will affect the price of power and EV penetration.
I find the media have rose-colour glass when it comes to reporting on RE. I believe (pray) that AEMO have the interest of dependable Australia grid first.
Dave (Duncalf?),
“Australia is unique with respect to power generation opportunities, lacking hydro and nuclear options. This will affect the price of power and EV penetration.”
Australia has a growing list of solar, wind, pumped-hydro and BESS projects operational or in development:
https://reneweconomy.com.au/large-scale-solar-farm-map-of-australia/
https://reneweconomy.com.au/large-scale-wind-farm-map-of-australia/
https://reneweconomy.com.au/offshore-wind-farm-map-of-australia/
https://reneweconomy.com.au/big-battery-storage-map-of-australia/
https://reneweconomy.com.au/pumped-hydro-energy-storage-map-of-australia/
Andrew Blakers & Anna Nadolny stated in an op-ed published 22 Dec 2022:
https://theconversation.com/global-coal-use-in-2022-is-reaching-an-all-time-high-but-australia-is-bucking-the-trend-196809
CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, despite cost increases in 2022, shows that ‘firmed’ renewables (onshore wind and solar PV + storage) remain the lowest cost technologies, compared with gas, coal & nuclear.
https://www.csiro.au/en/news/news-releases/2022/gencost-report-finds-renewables-increasingly-important-as-technology-costs-surge
Meanwhile, Australia continues to remain highly vulnerable to multiple layers of geological & commercial constraints and geopolitical risks influencing petroleum oil & fuel supply markets over which Australia has little (if any) control. I’d suggest Australia should be rapidly reducing its petroleum fuel dependency ASAP.
Geoff,
Are you agreeing or disagreeing with my apples and oranges?
Australia’s future power grid will be completely different to Norway’s.
Thank you for the Gencost report (draft) reference.
I look forward to the final version. I wish they had tested their scenarios against the long dunkelflaute of Winter 2010. They modelled 2011 to 2019 missing most significant La Nina years ie 2010,2020-22.
Their 0.26 to 0.4kW of storage per kW of RE (page 60) may be useful for some back of the envelop calculations. kWh may have been a more useful number for storage calculations
Dave
Dave (Duncalf?),
“Are you agreeing or disagreeing with my apples and oranges?”
I think it’s a distraction. Michael’s post was about Norway’s EV uptake putting Australia to shame. Your comments seem to me to focus on the differences between Norway’s & Australia’s electricity generator asset mix. IMO, it’s an attempt by a naysayer to divert attention away from what a country can do – in this case, Norway – when it has the will for and policies to effect substantial change, to improve its transport energy security before global supplies of petroleum fuels inevitably become scarcer and more unaffordable.
Saudi Arabian & Russian crude oil productions (world’s 2nd & 3rd largest in 2021) both appear to struggle to sustain exceeding 11 MB/d. Most other oil producing countries are in production decline. The world is fast running out of pre-peak oil producing countries.
“Australia’s future power grid will be completely different to Norway’s.”
Yep – so what, Dave? I’d suggest it’s not a case of one particular electricity technology source mix suiting all. Each jurisdiction will likely have a different mix. Norway’s mix is dominated by hydro – good for them. Australia’s electricity mix is already on a rapid trajectory towards being dominated by solar & wind + storage – good for us.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/2022-greenhouse-gas-emissions/#comment-1519069
https://opennem.org.au/energy/nem/?range=all&interval=1y
Dave, nice stats.
I posted a lengthy stat piece myself that didn’t get past the mods for some reasons. While you note the vastly different length of road it still doesn’t make clear the massive disparity in size between the 2 countries.
From memory Norway is 1:24th the size of Australia, with roughly 70% of the population living in an area about 50% larger than Tasmania. That is very roughly akin to the entire population of the Greater Capital City Statistical Areas. Even if the cities went fully electrical\EV, that still leaves 99.9r% of Australia untouched.
I think some responders are missing the point. EVs (including Trucks & Agricultural machinery) are coming. To my mind, this has huge advantages for Australia, where we make very little ICE vehicle fuel. Many mines are embracing EVs now because they understand the real cost of diesel. Of course there will always be a need for some ICE powered vehicles, but the faster we transition the better we will be financially. Our Balance of payments will improve for a start. Hopefully the change of Government might herald change, but I am not too hopeful there…
The comments about V2G are interesting: this is really new technology (although available on Chademo vehicles for some time). CCS2 really has not yet embraced V2G. Hyundai has an inverter & 240v availability, but that is for intermittent use, not yet for Grid connection. The Hardware for Grid connection is expensive atm due to Accreditation, & the lack of the CCS2 standard. Personally, V2G might be nice, but it might shorten the life of the vehicle battery. (Besides, I like my Zenaji Lithium Titanate 12Kw home battery)
I feel V2G will be mature when a hybrid PV inverter allows the vehicle connection. That way we have one inverter for the whole house that controls PV, home battery, & V2G including the EVSE function.
Viva la EV Revolution!
Doug,
I am not missing the point.
Comparing Australia to Norway (or California as done in ABC today) is of little use.
The wrong decisions on how to achieve net-zero will be made, resulting in unemployment and a fall in standard of living.
Curtailment is little mentioned topic, but represents a cost to the community.
In Spring/Summer it occurs most days due to Solar but we still build more solar farms rather than BESS or PHES
Dave