79
programmes of Norway are well known, but Iceland is also offering strong
tax reductions, Sweden offers a cash subsidy (as it has fewer car taxes to
reduce), Denmark recently halted the phase out of its earlier strong tax
reductions for EVs (currently at 40% instead of 150%) in an attempt to
reinvigorate its EV sales and consumer trust in EVs, and in the case of
Finland the EV incentives are fairly recent, in part due to Finnish comparative advantage in biofuels.
As Fig. 7.1 shows, these different support schemes are reflected in a
different uptake of EVs as they lead to lower—in some cases competitive—consumer prices and time savings. And while Denmark stands out
with its wind energy production, Norway stands out with its generous EV
incentives, Finland has a large biofuel industry, and Sweden is the only
country with a domestic automobile industry. All in all, the Nordic countries are different enough so that many of the major questions around
electric mobility and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) come up, while they simultaneously offer flexible and modern electricity systems and a serious political
concern about smog (Norway), oil imports (Iceland), and climate change
(all of them) to take these developments seriously.
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
Norway
Iceland
D enmark
Finland
Sweden
20.00%
18.00%
16.00%
14.00%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
40000
20000
0
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
2009
2009
2009
2009
2011
2011
2011
2011
2013
2013
2013
2013
2015
2015
2015
2015
Stock BEVs
Stock PHEVs
Sales Share BEVs
Sale Share PHEVs
Fig. 7.1 Diffusion of electric vehicles in the five Nordic countries, 2009 to 2017.
(Source: Kester et al. 2018)
7 GOVERNANCE AND LEGITIMATION IN THE TRANSITION TO NORDIC…
programmes of Norway are well known, but Iceland is also offering strong
tax reductions, Sweden offers a cash subsidy (as it has fewer car taxes to
reduce), Denmark recently halted the phase out of its earlier strong tax
reductions for EVs (currently at 40% instead of 150%) in an attempt to
reinvigorate its EV sales and consumer trust in EVs, and in the case of
Finland the EV incentives are fairly recent, in part due to Finnish comparative advantage in biofuels.
As Fig. 7.1 shows, these different support schemes are reflected in a
different uptake of EVs as they lead to lower—in some cases competitive—consumer prices and time savings. And while Denmark stands out
with its wind energy production, Norway stands out with its generous EV
incentives, Finland has a large biofuel industry, and Sweden is the only
country with a domestic automobile industry. All in all, the Nordic countries are different enough so that many of the major questions around
electric mobility and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) come up, while they simultaneously offer flexible and modern electricity systems and a serious political
concern about smog (Norway), oil imports (Iceland), and climate change
(all of them) to take these developments seriously.
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
Norway
Iceland
D enmark
Finland
Sweden
20.00%
18.00%
16.00%
14.00%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
40000
20000
0
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
2009
2009
2009
2009
2011
2011
2011
2011
2013
2013
2013
2013
2015
2015
2015
2015
Stock BEVs
Stock PHEVs
Sales Share BEVs
Sale Share PHEVs
Fig. 7.1 Diffusion of electric vehicles in the five Nordic countries, 2009 to 2017.
(Source: Kester et al. 2018)
7 GOVERNANCE AND LEGITIMATION IN THE TRANSITION TO NORDIC…