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Sometime this month, Norway will have more electric cars on its roads than petrol-only vehicles, according to an analysis of Norwegian government data.

The analysis comes courtesy of Bilbransje24, a Norwegian auto industry publication. It used data from Norway’s Road Traffic Information Council (Opplysningsrådet for Veitrafikken, OFV).

Norway releases detailed monthly information about auto sales in the country, which has been helpful for those of us tracking the EV market in the most EV-obsessed country in the world. It set another world record with 94% EV new car market share in August.

Norway has long been a standout, with the highest level of EV market share of any country and an aspiration to end sales of new gas cars by 2025, while other countries and regions focus on a relatively weak 2035 target.

But it even managed to basically meet that 2025 aspiration early, with non-electrified vehicles only making up a single-digit percentage of sales in the country as early as 2021. Some countries even abruptly stopped ICE vehicle sales with only a few days notice as sales continued to drop.

As is the case with most technologies, the last few percent is always a struggle, but we think getting down to single digits might as well be a win (for reference, California’s 2035 “ban” on gas cars still allows up to 20% of vehicle sales to be PHEVs, which do have a combustion engine in them).

And the combined effect of so many years of extremely high EV sales, and extremely low gas-car sales, means that we’ve seen the installed base of gas vehicles shrink as the installed base of EVs continues to rise. And now, finally, those lines have crossed.

There are more electric cars than petrol-only cars on Norway’s roads (as of… today?)

As of the end of last month, there were 751,450 electric cars in service in Norway and 755,244 petrol-only cars, each making up about 26% of the cars on the roads.

Given that EVs are selling at a rate of about ~10,000 vehicles per month, and petrol-only cars are selling at a rate of about…. zero (okay, maybe a few hundred) per month, that means these lines will cross around the middle of this month. So… just about now.

This does leave out one powertrain type though, diesel, which was quite popular in Norway throughout the 2000s and early 2010s. Diesel’s installed-based crossed that of petrol-only vehicles in late 2014, and they have remained the most common vehicles on Norwegian roads since then. There are just over a million diesel vehicles in Norway (that number will drop below a million at the end of this month), so diesel-only still reigns supreme on Norwegian roads, ahead of EVs.

But EVs are growing, and growing more rapidly than diesel ever did. And both petrol-only – which EVs just advanced ahead of – and diesel-only vehicles are dropping in popularity. “Peak diesel” was reached in 2017, though today they make up 35% of Norway’s cars. Peak petrol-car sales were reached in Norway in 2005.

Each of these numbers leave out hybrids, which make up a smaller amount, both plug-in and otherwise. There are around 208k plug-in hybrids and 156k non-plug-in hybrids on the roads in Norway now. The installed base of plug-in hybrids became larger than that of non-plug-in ones back in 2019.

And the installed-base of diesel and petrol vehicles don’t get driven as often as newer, more efficient EVs do, so the disparate travel distances have resulted in an outsized effect on motor fuel sales in the country. Last year, Electrek did an analysis of how Cratering motor fuel sales in Norway show the death spiral that can end oil.

See more: graphs and charts at Bilbransje24’s article

Electrek’s Take

As usual, Norway is showing the rest of the world how this should all work.

Meanwhile, most countries aren’t even close to having new EV sales eclipse new gas car sales, and Norway is already out here with more EVs on the road than gas cars.

For all the complaints and protestations of impossibility, the Nordic countries have by and large left gas behind. All have high EV penetration, led by Norway, and there have not been any of the widespread problems that fossil fuel propaganda constantly tries to convince you that high EV use would lead to.

Maybe instead of listening to ignorant clowns who are committed to increasing harm and costs, we should just take a look at how one of the happiest nations in the world has transformed its transportation system for the better, and take a few notes.


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NIO (NIO) eyes buying Volkswagen plant in historic market shake up

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NIO (NIO) eyes buying Volkswagen plant in historic market shake up

China’s NIO (NIO) is considering buying Volkswagen’s Audi plant in Brussels. Volkswagen’s plant is at risk of being shut down, and NIO wants to take advantage as the market shifts to EVs.

NIO in talks to buy Volkswagen Brussels plant

Volkswagen may close its first plant in Germany ever. Its Audi Brussels factory is also at risk. The last time the company closed a facility was back in 1988 in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.

However, VW is facing an overcapacity crisis amid sluggish EV sales and a slew of new competitively priced electric cars from China.

CEO Oliver Blume warned that Germany’s competitive advantage is at risk as the industry shifts to electric vehicles. Volkswagen has already canceled plans for a new EV facility and delayed key model launches as it falls further behind Chinese automakers.

According to a Belgian media report, China’s NIO is in talks to buy Volkswagen’s plant in Brussels.

The report from De Tijd claims NIO representatives recently visited the plant and are already working on a bid. NIO needs to submit its offer to VW by next Monday at the latest.

NIO-Onvo-L60
NIO Onvo L60 launch event (Source: NIO

Volkswagen plans to stop building cars at the facility after the last Audi Q8 e-tron rolls off the production line next year. If the plant closes, the nearly 3,000 workers will lose their jobs.

NIO already sells vehicles in Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark. Although it doesn’t sell cars in Belgium yet, NIO plans to launch there soon.

NIO-Volkswagen-plant
NIO ET5 at new Emsbüren, Germany Power Swap Station (Source: NIO)

Although NIO faces an additional 20.8% tariff on imports to the EU, the Chinese EV maker is committed to expanding in the region.

Electrek’s Take

NIO buying out Volkswagen’s Brussels plant would be symbolic of the market’s shift to EVs. European automakers, including VW, are facing stiff competition from China.

Even with tariffs, several Chinese EVs are expected to still be cheaper than their European rivals.

Although NIO is known for its “smart electric vehicles,” it’s launching new lower-cost models. Its new electric SUV, the Onvo L60, is widely viewed as a true Tesla Model Y Challenger. Starting at around $30,000 in China, NIO’s new electric SUV undercuts the Model Y by about $4,000 (30,000 yuan).

NIO plans to launch the competitively priced electric SUV globally later this year. Next year, the company will follow up with its new Firefly EV, which will launch in Europe for under $32,000 (30,000 Euro).

Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s struggles are not limited to Europe. The company is also facing a plant closure in China with its joint venture partner, SAIC.

Source: CnEVPost

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Tesla (TSLA) rises on deliveries in China, but can it save its Q3?

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Tesla (TSLA) rises on deliveries in China, but can it save its Q3?

Tesla’s stock (TSLA) is up this morning on delivery data from China showing a strong end-of-quarter performance, but is this enough to save its Q3?

Insurance registration data in China shows that Tesla delivered 15,600 vehicles in the country last week, down 3.7% from the prior week, which had a strong performance with 16,200 registrations.

This is a strong start for September, with 31,800 registrations. That only accounts for Tesla’s vehicles built at Gigafactory Shanghai and sold domestically—though that’s generally most of its Shanghai production at the end of quarters to limit vehicles in transit.

Tesla tends to end quarters strong with a push in deliveries over the last few weeks.

According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), Tesla China delivered 86,697 electric vehicles made in China in August and just over 74,000 vehicles in July.

Tesla is on pace to deliver over 230,000 electric vehicles in and from China in Q3.

Is China going to save Tesla’s Q3?

Tesla introduced 0% financing in China this year in order to boost demand in its most important market and it is clearly working.

However, other markets are not doing as well.

According to registration data, Tesla’s deliveries in Europe are way down this year:

Tesla is down more than 70,000 vehicles in its biggest EU markets compared to last year. The difference is more significant by 10,000 units since we last checked in August.

Electrek’s Take

It looks like China is going to be able to compensate for some of Tesla’s troubles in the EU, but not all of it.

The difference maker in Q3 could end up being the US market, where Tesla has been having its own issues, but it recently introduced strong incentives to try to boost sales.

The new referral program basically results in a $1,000 discounts on all cars except Cybertruck. Speaking of Cybertruck, it’s not a high volume program, but the recent ramp-up in production does point to it contributing a few tens of thousands of units to Tesla’s total deliveries in Q3.

Finally, Tesla recently introduced new financing incentives in the US that are likely going to be impactful at the end of the quarter.

At this point, I think Tesla is likely going to beat deliveries from last quarter, 443,956 units, which would actually mean a return to year-over-year growth for Tesla since it delivered 435,000 units during the same period in 2023.

However, I believe that Tesla will be far short of the 585,000 vehicles it needs to be deliver in order to be on pace for its original goal of 2 million deliveries in 2024. It might even be short of the 485,000 vehicles it needs to be on pace so as not to be down year-over-year in deliveries for the whole year.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.

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BioLite launches home backup battery you can install yourself

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BioLite launches home backup battery you can install yourself

Depending on where you live in the US, electrical outages can be anything from a rare occurrence to near certainty. While some only last a few minutes or hours, longer ones can end up spoiling everything in your fridge and lead to an uncomfortable day or two with no air-conditioning or fans. Backup by BioLite is a new home backup battery launched by electronics company BioLite that makes it easy to install your own redundancy before the next storm or power outage.

The solution provides up to a claimed 60 hours of backup and is meant to power a homeowner’s most important devices (like a refrigerator, fans, computers, etc.) instead of backing up the entire house.

The concept works like a modern take on a UPS, or uninterrupted power supply. To put it simply, it’s a big LiFePO4 battery in a sleek-looking shell that charges itself from the grid in your home and then feeds that power back out to your most important devices when it senses that the power has gone out.

There are multiple versions of the product that offer different capacities. The 3 kWh Backup Complete is the full monty, and it includes both the main 1.5 kWh Core unit and a 1.5 kWh Extend panel to add even more energy storage. Alternatively, a 1.5 kWh Core unit can be run independently or connected to up to five more Extend panels for the largest energy storage capacity.

The system can output 1,800W continuously and surges up to 3,000W peak.

You can get a better idea of how it works in the overview video below.

One of the main advantages of the system isn’t just its lower cost, but also the ability to be installed by the homeowner instead of needing an electrician to wire it into the house. The device simply plugs into a wall outlet and runs independently of the house, meaning it doesn’t need to be tied into the home’s grid.

“Traditional home backup power typically costs upwards of $15,000 and can take months of coordination with contractors and electricians to install,” shares CEO and Co-Founder, Jonathan Cedar. He continues, “Backup by BioLite offers homeowners and renters alike a more affordable alternative that they can install themselves in under an hour and build resiliency back into their home.”

Compared to more expensive systems, the promotional pre-order prices for BioLite’s 1.5 kWh and 3 kWh systems start at US $1,299 and $1,999, respectively.

The backup system has now launched for pre-order on Kickstarter. Yep, Kickstarter.

Electrek’s Take

First, to address the Kickstarter-shaped elephant in the room. My regular readers will know that I rarely cover Kickstarters or other crowdfunding campaigns, and only make an exception under one of two cases. Either I’ve been able to test the product myself in advance, or it’s coming from a well-established company with a good standing record for delivering products. In this case, it’s the second. I’ve tested several products from BioLite before, and the company has a long reputation in the energy storage and electronics industry. This is also the company’s fifth Kickstarter campaign, with the last four all going quite well.

This isn’t some fly-by-night startup trying to raise the cash to make their oddball idea a reality; this is a company that knows how to build electronics and has been doing it for a while.

That being said, crowdfunding inherently always comes with risks (even when it’s being leveraged largely for marketing purposes), and there’s no guarantee these things will ever get delivered, so proceed accordingly.

Even so, I can absolutely see the need for a product like this. Whole-home backup systems are great, but most people don’t need everything in their home to be powered. In the case of a sudden storm or other outages that last for a day or two, just being able to prevent all the things in your fridge from spoiling is a nice benefit, as well as being able to charge up your phones or run some cooling fans. So I can definitely see the benefit of a simple, easy-to-install system like this.

Sure, it’s largely a modern repacking of a conventional UPS, but it’s a pretty slickly done repackaging that looks like it benefits from BioLite’s experience and brand reputation.

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