EVs need the political will

This story first appeared in the December issue of EVtalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

The leader of the world’s largest EV owners’ group doesn’t own an EV.

But that doesn’t stop Norwegian EV Association secretary general Christina Bu promoting them.

“I’ve never owned a car,” Bu says during a New Zealand visit to talk with politicians, industry leaders, fleet managers and others about what can be learnt from Norway’s world-leading conversion to EVs.

The 38-year-old has no need to own a car – walking for 25 minutes between home and work in Oslo, and test driving an EV at her job when necessary.
A parking space with a charger is available in the garage serving her apartment block.

Bu’s EV interest developed from 2007 when she became a political adviser on environmental issues for the Norwegian Automobile Federation, the equivalent of our AA, for seven years.

While there she drove a small Oslo-made EV called a “Think”.

That led to Bu joining the Norwegian EV Association as secretary general in 2014, reaching nearly 70,000 members this December.

The organisation now has almost 30 people working for it, with Bu in hot demand around the world as a speaker and EV advocate.

Since visiting New Zealand in 2016 (she was also at Tauranga Girls College as an exchange student in 1998), Bu has noticed a surge in EV interest as well as general growth.

But she believes the government needs to introduce incentives like the “feebate” scheme soon to boost EV uptake and discourage the importation of polluting vehicles.

Bu says New Zealand’s EV revolution is being driven by consumers and the industry here, rather than the top down approach Norway has taken with government incentives and taxes pushing EV uptake there.

A feebate type scheme was introduced in Sweden in July, like France’s bonus-malus system to boost sales of new fuel-efficient vehicles and increase the removal of older more polluting cars from the road.

Bu agrees with New Zealand environment minister James Shaw that this country risks becoming a dumping ground for polluting vehicles unless tighter restrictions – including emissions standards – are introduced.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) especially are favoured in Norway (about 190,000 BEVs compared with around 90,000 PHEVs) because the tax breaks and other incentives make it worthwhile people getting them, Bu says.

“In about six years, with zero emissions standards applying, only BEVs and hydrogen fueled vehicles will be sold and we will have about a million fully electric vehicles on the road.
”
In New Zealand, the cost of getting a BEV is much higher than in Norway, and Bu believes uptake here will be swifter once price parity with conventional vehicles is achieved.

She says New Zealand is ideal for EV adoption with most power supplied from renewable sources, many home owners having their own garages for EV charging and are ideal temperatures for EVs.

“In Oslo, about 70% of people live in apartment buildings,” Bu says, explaining it’s often difficult to provide charging stations in such situations.

“The challenge is how to do charging on a large scale, and especially finding a charger,” she says.

Queuing issues can develop around charging stations.

Bu says her main message to Kiwis is to try an EV and work out the annual savings.

She says surveys in Norway show 92% of people there are happy having a BEV with only about 4% wanting to return to a fossil-fuel vehicle – “probably because of range”.

But with more EV models and longer range coming from as early as next year, Bu believes many of the present issues around EV purchase will change.

“We need to get people into these cars – they’re cheaper to run, quick, quiet and fun.
”
She believes many people are also waiting for EV options, like popular SUVs.

“More than 30,000 Norwegians have paid deposits for new BEVs, such as the Audi e-tron and Hyundai Kona SUVs.
Demand is high for longer range EVs like the Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model 3.
”
Bu says the Nissan Leaf, VW e-Golf, BMW i3 and Tesla Model X were the top cars sold in Norway this year.

“EVs are becoming the new norm in Norway.
”
New Zealand is close to a tipping point on EVs, Bu believes.

She says one of the biggest challenges during the next three or four years is in supply meeting demand.
“OEMs have been too slow in adjusting to this change, so the next challenge is getting more cars,” says Bu, pointing to delivery delays of more than six months.

Many EV makers are focusing on China, Bu adds, with that country set to absorb much of the EV stock during the next few years.
“We will be seeing a catch up in three to four years.
”
Bu says EV interest is spreading world-wide, so she expects another busy year in 2019.

She was in Chile before arriving in New Zealand, spending five days in Santiago which will have about 200 electric buses, runs 60 electric taxis and has just introduced the first in a series of heavy electric trucks.

“Chile wants to take a leading role in South America on e-mobility.
”
Among the major events she plans to attend is the “Planet Electric” Nordic EV Summit in Oslo during March.

The summit’s global perspective includes whether Norway can export its EV policies to the rest of the world.

That recipe has already been introduced here.
Now it’s a question of how much of it the government will add to the EV pie.