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Monthly Norwegian auto sales numbers are in, showing once again how heavily dominant EVs are in the country, with one Norwegian outlet saying “the Tesla boom will never end.”

Norway releases monthly sales numbers for the entire country, giving us an easy way to see exactly how many cars of each model were sold. Those statistics include an entry for powertrain, giving us an easy way to see how the country is doing as the global leader in EV progress.

And as we see every month, the country’s non-EV sales continue to vanish, while EVs dominate – particularly Tesla.

In May, 80.7% of cars sold in the country were fully electric. This is down slightly from the 2023 average of 83%, but higher than last year’s May numbers, which stood at 73%.

May 2023 January-May
Tesla Model Y 2691 12,328
Volkswagen ID.4 738 2712
BMW iX1 594 1197
Toyota RAV4 580 1139
Volvo XC40 539 2398
Skoda Enyaq 504 1750
Audi Q4 e-tron 386 1191
Ford Mustang Mach-E 372 1132
Toyota Yaris/Yaris Cross 363 1399
Volkswagen ID. Buzz 308 782
Toyota Corolla/Corolla Cross 295 1038
Hyundai Ioniq 5 270 701
Audi Q8 e-tron 257 511
Volkswagen ID.3 256 1895
Toyota C-HR 251 480
Volvo C40 248 695
Hyundai Kona 221 721
Nissan Ariya 215 799
Toyota bZ4X 208 2180
Nissan Leaf 200 1094
via

What’s more interesting is that there are now virtually no gasoline- or diesel-only car sales in the country. Of the remaining cars that aren’t fully electric, 16% of sales are hybrid (including plug-ins) and only 2.1% are diesel-only and 1.2% are gasoline-only. These numbers are down from 3.7% and 4.2% respectively from the same month last year.

So while there are month-to-month fluctuations, the trend is still clear. Cars without some type of battery in them are vanishing from Norway’s dealer lots – and not because they’re being sold out, but rather because nobody wants them.

As for breakdowns by model, the Tesla Model Y is the most popular vehicle in the country by a huge margin. The Model Y was recently declared best-selling car in the world, the first EV to do so. While Norway is a comparatively small market, its strong performance in the country certainly doesn’t hurt.

So far this year, Tesla’s most popular model has sold a whopping 454% as many units as its closest competitor, the ID.4, with 12,328 sales compared to the ID.4’s 2,712. The Model Y represents almost a quarter of all car sales in Norway since the start of the year, with 24.2% market share for this single car model. In May alone, the Model Y beat the ID.4 with “only” 364% as many sales, but monthly numbers are less reliable with Tesla due to the way the company ships cars.

Tesla as a whole has a 26.3% market share this year, making it the country’s #1 brand (though the Model Y would qualify as such all on its own, since it accounts for the vast majority of Tesla’s sales).

Tesla’s sales numbers have been helped by massive price cuts, keeping its cars competitive in an environment where customers around the world are starting to cut back due to economic fears and higher interest rates making car loans more expensive. In Norway, as in other countries, buyers have moved a little downmarket in response to these economic changes.

Electrek’s Take

Norway has targeted a 2025 end to gasoline-vehicle sales in the country, though trends suggest that they could get there even earlier than that. EV sales have somewhat plateaued with less rapid progress in the last year or so, but they seem to be following the same S-curve that many technological changes follow, with some laggards sticking around longer than anyone would like at the end of the curve.

So I would say that Norway has basically met its target, but any more progress towards complete elimination (and conversion of those remaining hybrids to all-electric) is welcome. In fact, Norway’s current 80%+ BEV share is enough to meet California’s 2035 gas car ban, which will actually still allow 20% of vehicles to be plug-in hybrids.

Hyundai-IONIQ-5-V2L-Norway-EV-share
Hyundai pulled all of its gas cars out of Norwegian dealers with just a couple days’ notice

In fact, Norway has been so successful with EV sales that the country is even rolling back EV incentives to focus on walking and cycling instead, a step toward more sustainable transportation than even EVs can provide. And manufacturers are pulling gas cars out of the country, some with only a couple days’ notice, recognizing there’s no point to stocking vehicles that are only going to get single-digit sales numbers anyway.

Progress like this shows how regions can meet EV targets early, and how setting those EV targets can send a signal to consumers and manufacturers to adapt early so they aren’t left with a gas-powered albatross around their neck when the time comes.

This is a warning to manufacturers: the same is going to happen (and is already happening) elsewhere. As consumers catch on to the superiority of EVs, as governments (hopefully) catch on to the severity and urgency of climate action, sales of fossil-powered cars will have to dry up, and quick. And car development cycles are slow, so you better have already started working on this or things could go poorly.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 disappoints with hallucinations, brake stabbing, and speeding

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 disappoints with hallucinations, brake stabbing, and speeding

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14, its first major update in a year, disappoints as data points to a lower increase in miles between disengagements than expected.

The system also features new hallucinations, brake stabbing, and excessive speeding.

Earlier this month, Tesla began rolling out its Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14 software update to some customers.

The update has been highly anticipated for several reasons.

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First off, it has been a year since Tesla released any significant FSD update to customers, as it focused on its internal robotaxi fleet in Austin. The update is believed to feature improvements developed through Tesla’s robotaxi fleet, which requires supervising like its consumer FSD.

Secondly, CEO Elon Musk has claimed that Tesla still plans for “Supervised Full Self-Driving” to become unsupervised by the end of the year in consumer vehicles. For that to happen, we needed to see a massive improvement from v13 to v14.

As I previously reported, I anticipated an improvement in miles between critical disengagements from ~400 miles in v13 to ~800 to 1,200 miles in v14. It would be a significant improvement, but still way short of what’s needed to make FSD unsupervised.

Tesla notoriously doesn’t release any data about its FSD program. Musk has literally told people to rely on anecdotal experiences posted on social media to gauge progress.

Fortunately, there’s a crowdsourced dataset that gives us some data to track progress with miles between critical disengagement. It’s far from perfect, but it is literally the best data available, and Musk himself has shared the dataset in the past – albeit while misrepresenting it.

In the last week, Tesla started pushing the FSD v14 update (now v14.1.4) to more owners – resulting in more crowdsourced data and anecdotal evidence.

With now over 4,000 miles of FSD v14 data, miles between critical disengagement sits about 732 miles – below the lower end of our expectations:

Tesla would need to be closer to 10,000 miles between critical disengagements to allow unsupervised operation, and even then, it would likely be in geo-fenced areas with speed limitations.

This is unlikely to happen by the end of the year, as Musk predicted, as FSD v14 appears to have some significant issues still.

First off, many FSD v14 drivers are reporting that the update is having problems with hallucinations where the car decides to stop on the side of the road seemingly randomly:

It does seem like FSD v14 sometimes misinterprets other vehicles’ turn signals as emergency vehicle lights and pulls over.

In some cases, FSD v14 has been known to completely disable FSD features inside vehicles:

Many FSD v14 drivers have also reported an increase in “brake stabbing”, where the vehicle seems to hesitate and frantically applies the brakes and releases them – resulting in a stabbing motion.

As previously reported, Tesla also brought back its ‘Mad Max’ mode in FSD v14, which allows for driving exceedingly over the speed limit.

Electrek’s Take

Now, I don’t want to hear anything about my use of anecdotal evidence and crowdsourced data. That’s literally the best data available for FSD.

Unlike virtually all other companies developing self-driving technology, Tesla refuses to release any.

If it were to release some data, I’d be happy to use it.

One thing is clear from v14 so far: unsupervised FSD in consumer vehicles is not happening in any meaningful way this year.

I expect significant improvements in upcoming FSD v14 point updates. Maybe enough to get it to my previous expectations of ~800 to 1,200 miles between disengagements, but that’s about it.

Finally, while I generally don’t count on NHTSA to enforce any rule in any significant way when it comes to Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” effort, I think they might actually do something about “Mad Max.”

This video on Instagram has 4.5 million views, and it shows extremely dangerous driving behavior at up to 90 mph (145 km/h)

I think the authorities will have to intervene here, because it makes no sense for an unproven autonomous driving system to be able to operate under those parameters.

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The Toyota Corolla EV is bringing a sharp new look, but that’s just the start [Images]

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The Toyota Corolla EV is bringing a sharp new look, but that's just the start [Images]

Toyota’s best-selling car is finally going electric. The Corolla EV looks more like a Porsche or BMW than the Toyota vehicles on the road today, but that’s just the start.

The Toyota Corolla is evolving into a rad-looking EV

After revealing the Corolla Concept for the first time at the Japan Mobility Show on Tuesday, Toyota’s CEO, Koji Sato, said the compact car has always been “a car for everyone.”

Since it hit the market over 50 years ago, Toyota has sold well over 50 million Corollas. The Corolla even surpassed the VW Beetle in the 90s to become the world’s best-selling vehicle. Like the Prius, Toyota’s compact car lured in buyers with an affordable price and a reputation as a reliable daily driver.

Although it’s still a top-seller, the Corolla has lost some of its charm as more advanced, stylish, and efficient electric cars hit the market.

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Toyota looks to change that with a drastic overhaul that takes the Corolla to the next level. To stay relevant, Sato asked the crowd at the event, “How should the Corolla evolve?”

Toyota-Corolla-EV-reveal
Toyota CEO Koji Sato reveals the Corolla Concept at the Japan Mobility Show (Source: Toyota)

We all want to drive a car that looks cool, but there’s much more to it nowadays. Buyers are increasingly seeking more efficient vehicles with the latest software, connectivity technology, and other features.

“Whether it’s a battery EV, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, or internal combustion engine vehicle―whatever the power source―let’s make good-looking cars that everyone will want to drive!” Toyota’s CEO said, adding the car is “packed with inventions aimed at making that a reality.”

Although Toyota didn’t confirm the concept was headed for production, the next-gen Corolla is expected to arrive with a similar style.

The concept still features Toyota’s newest design elements, like the “hammerhead” front end, but with a bit more of a futuristic feel.

You can barely tell the concept is a Corolla, aside from the massive COROLLA badging on the rear. Toyota didn’t reveal any powertrain details, but the charge port and closed-off grille suggest it’s an EV.

The next-gen Toyota Corolla is expected to be offered as an EV, a plug-in hybrid, a hybrid, and, likely, still an ICE variant.

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Uber chooses first market to deploy its Lucid Gravity robotaxis featuring Nuro Driver

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Uber chooses first market to deploy its Lucid Gravity robotaxis featuring Nuro Driver

Three months after Uber, Lucid Motors, and Nuro announced a partnership that would enable Gravity SUV robotaxis, the rideshare network has shared where the public will first be able to hail one. Spoiler alert, it’s easy to guess if you give it half a thought.

As we reported in July, Uber Technologies committed to a $300 million investment in Lucid Group (parent company of American EV automaker Lucid Motors), to deploy at least 20,000 Lucid vehicles as robotaxis over the next six years.

Those Lucid vehicles, which will consist of the automaker’s flagship Gravity SUV to begin, will hit public roads equipped with a Level 4 autonomous system called Nuro Driver. Nuro, the third partner in this equation, is a robotics company specializing in zero-occupant delivery vehicles, which garnered an existing partnership with Uber Eats as well as a “hefty” (yet undisclosed) investment from Uber Technologies.

Last month, Lucid delivered its first Gravity SUV to Nuro to begin the retrofitting process of the Nuro Driver system to support Uber’s hopes for a luxe robotaxi fleet. While the partners continue to work toward building an exciting new fleet of Lucid Gravity Robotaxis, Uber has shared the location where they will first go into service… Casper, Wyoming.

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Just kidding!

It’s the San Francisco Bay Area, of course.

Lucid-first-EV-Uber
Lucid Gravity SUV fitted with Nuro’s self-driving tech (Source: Lucid)

Uber to deploy Lucid Gravity EVs in Bay Area in 2026

Today’s update from Uber expands upon the ongoing partnership with Lucid Group and Nuro. According to the companies, the San Francisco Bay Area will be the first market where riders will see this next-generation autonomous robotaxi program in operation. That milestone is expected sometime in 2026.

Uber has shared that it has been updating policymakers and regulators at every level on the progress of its exclusive Lucid Robotaxis and continues to meet the operational requirements. Notably, Uber has shared that on-road development with the Lucid Gravity robotaxi engineering fleet is already underway in the Bay Area.

Furthermore, Nuro and Lucid intend to be operating over 100 Gravity robotaxis as part of the test fleet “in the coming months.” Lucid interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, spoke about today’s announcement:

Lucid has always celebrated its California roots, and we’re thrilled to make the San Francisco Bay Area the first market for our new robotaxi on the Uber platform, powered by the Nuro Driver. Beginning next year, riders will experience a level of convenience, safety, and comfort unlike anything else on the road. We can’t wait to bring this service to life and expand it to communities across the country.

To build this fleet of Uber-exclusive robotaxis, the required hardware will be integrated into Lucid Gravity SUVS while they are still on Lucid’s assembly line in Arizona. Those builds will then be integrated with Nuro’s proprietary software when Uber officially commissions them.

All eyes on 2026 as we now know that residents around the Bay Area will be able to hail a driverless Lucid Gravity through the Uber platform. I’m very much looking forward to seeing this fleet in action.

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