Tesla just released its fourth-quarter sales numbers and the company delivered strong results, proving that there’s still a lot of demand for electric vehicles. But for the first time in approximately eight years, Tesla isn’t the biggest quarterly seller of electric vehicles. Can you guess who it is?
If you regularly read The Morning Dump then it won’t be a surprise to you that it’s Chinese automaker BYD that’s finally taken the quarterly sales crown away from Tesla.
Because Tesla posted its numbers right off the tip this is going to be a Tesla-sales-heavy TMD and we’re going to look at places where Tesla absolutely dominated the market.
We’ll finish up on Vinfast, which has announced a round of dealers because they are not where you’d guess.
BYD Trumps Tesla
I’ve been interested in the development of battery company-turned-automaker BYD since its chairman and CEO, Wang Chanfu, gave me a ride in a hybrid production car around the Detroit Auto Show almost exactly 15 years ago.
At the time, the influx of Chinese automakers to the show was a joke. The cars were poorly built, everything was an obvious copy, the swag they handed out was weird, and everything was either electric or hybrid. Most journalists at the time just laughed them off.
No one is laughing now.
I’ll never forget Chanfu, via a translator, proudly and audaciously poking fun at GM and other automakers at the show. He pointed out that the EVs and PHEVs everyone else had on their stands were prototypes, but his car was a real car for sale in China.
Tesla was also around in 2008 and also wasn’t taken as much more than a novelty at first. By 2015, Tesla was the biggest maker of electric cars in the world. That’s a record it’s held for the last eight years, right up until the fourth quarter of this year.
Tesla Sales Q4 2023 And 2023
According to Tesla, the company delivered 484,507 cars in the fourth quarter of 2023, which is above analyst projections. For the total year 2023, the company hit 1.81 million deliveries, an increase of 38% year-over-year and a hair over Musk’s stated goal of 1.8 million vehicles in 2023.
That’s remarkable. By comparison, Mazda only sold 1.1 million total cars in 2022 globally.
This also makes Tesla the biggest electric carmaker for 2023, yet again, but it’s been outpaced by BYD in the second half of this year.
BYD Sales Q4 2023 And 2023
BYD was the biggest seller of electrified vehicles in 2023 with 3.0 million “new energy vehicles” sold, which includes both plug-in hybrids (1.4 million) and fully electric vehicles, or BEVs, with 1.6 million of those delivered. InsideEVs has a nice breakdown of all these numbers.
Obviously, 1.6 million is a smaller number than 1.8 million, but in Q4 of 2023 BYD managed to sell an incredible 526k electric cars, compared to the 484k for Tesla.
For the total year, BYD’s BEV sales increased at a rate of about 73% year-over-year compared to just 38% for Tesla.
Tesla Is The King Of Norway
If you thought Haraldr hinn hárfagri was the King of Norway you’d be wrong because he’s been dead for over 1,000 years. If you thought it was King Harald V well, you’d be partially right.
(It’s here that I’d like to make a completely unnecessary aside and point out that King Harald V, back when he was just Crown Prince Herald, was dating a commoner and reportedly threatened to end the Norwegian monarchal dynasty by remaining unmarried if he didn’t get his dad’s approval. That’s baller as hell)
Not quite as impressive, though still pretty impressive, is Tesla’s sales results from Norway. That country is all-in on electrification and, in 2023, EVs represented 82% of all vehicles sold in that country according to Reuters. This is in line with the country’s goal of ending all ICE sales by 2025.
Tesla managed to increase its share of the overall market to 20%, up from 12.2% in 2022. That means one out of five new cars in Norway are Teslas. Norway, meet your new King.
Tesla Model Y Outsells Volvo Models In Sweden
Despite Unions hard work to try to stop Tesla in Sweden the last 2.5 months, Model Y became the most selling car not just in the World, but also in Sweden???????? https://t.co/XokmCxP7mO
— Nicklas ????????????T????????????♻️???? (@NicklasNilsso14) December 29, 2023
Tesla is in a serious battle royale with Sweden’s IF Metall union. The union would like its members to be recognized and Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk would, uh, very much not like to do that.
It’s a little too early to tell what the long-term impact of the strikes will be in Sweden, but for 2023 it looks like the Model Y is the best-selling car in the country.
Per Swedish car finding site Car.info and Teslarati:
[T]he Tesla Model Y actually became Sweden’s best-selling car in 2023, with 16,416 units sold over the year. The Model Y was able to beat popular vehicles such as the Volvo XC40 and XC60, which saw 13,661 and 11,669 vehicle registrations in 2023, respectively.
I’ll be interested to see how the release of the Volvo EX30 plays out in 2024.
VinFast Announces Interesting Mix Of Dealers
It’s been known for a while that VinFast was seeking dealers for its vehicles, and now the initial list has been released. It’s, uh, interesting. According to a company press release:
The first group of VinFast dealers consist of Leith VinFast (Raleigh, North Carolina), Smith Haven VinFast (St. James, New York), Principle VinFast Grapevine (Grapevine, Texas), Hiley VinFast of Fort Worth (Fort Worth, Texas), and VinFast Wichita (Wichita, Kansas). These dealers will initially begin selling the VinFast VF 8 all-electric SUV, with plans to add the VF 6, VF 7, and VF 9 models when they launch in the US market.
The dealer in New York makes sense, even if it’s on Long Island. I’d also give a nod to Raleigh, North Carolina, which is an underrated city and a place where there are probably EV-curious buyers (as are the nearby college towns).
The two dealers in North Texas is super unusual though. People in Texas do buy EVs, but one would imagine that perhaps Austin or Houston would be better places to start than Dallas.
Also, if the VinFast dealer in Grapevine is near Principle’s Volkswagen dealership and the Hiley VinFast of Forth Worth is near Hiley Mazda then… these are two dealerships less than 15 miles apart (also known as neighbors in Texas).
Strange.
For its part, VinFast does have a bunch of company-operated showrooms in California, which is currently its only market.
What I’m Listening To While Writing This
Am I a Dad? Yeah, I’m a Dad. Here’s proof. I spent this morning listening to Pavement’s debut full-length album “Slanted and Enchanted.”
The Big Question
Is 2024 the year that BYD takes the total EV sales crown from Tesla?
Not a dad, but Slanted and Enchanted is an excellent album.
Hiley dealerships are the Mos Eisley Cantina of Texas car lots. Stay far away from them, unless you’re looking for a ship that can do the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs.
“Please wait while I go talk to my manager, Greedo…”
Thank you, Matt for not emoting on Tesla or Musk in this wonderful piece of fact-based journalism.
BYD has made claims of being the biggest/best at everything for about a decade now, to the point where people should take everything they say with a
grainbucket of salt.Makes sense for NYC. Lots of folks there who buy on payment alone. If they can be marginally cheaper than anyone else they’ll get sales. NYC has a crazy car market despite being absolutely inhospitable to cars.
YES, this is the year. The Chinese government does NOT have to worry about Fiduciary obligations. Their ONLY goal is to economically take over the rest of the world. We don’t really fight wars anymore (sorry Russia, you never got that memo) with tanks and bullets. Those don’t hurt citizens, they hurt soldiers. China is after our citizens. The Taiwan thing is about 1 thing and 1 thing only, the semiconductor industry. China could care less about Taiwan otherwise.
1) several millions of Ukrainians would beg to differ about who is harmed by war
2) talk to almost any Far East expert, and I’ll think you’ll find that China has had their sights on Taiwan since the 40s. Sure, they’d love to have the industries, but it’s based in nationalism. The Communist Party does not forget the loss of face there: Mao rooted that deep in the party
(source: raised by academics who both studied the Far East—stepmother even taught English in Taiwan in the 70s)
Touche!
My point is the rest of the world fights without guns at this point, China included. I still stand behind my statement though. China would collapse if they tried to invade Taiwan, cause we wouldn’t let them. While, I agree the sentiment that it is Nationalism, I still firmly believe all they want is the semi-con industry there at this point in 2023. If you control the chips, you control the world. This was reinforced by Covid.
They will win: they’re playing the long game against our society based on quarterly reports. DoD doesn’t want to tangle with them any more than with the Russians—and they know it. I may just be cynical, but I do expect that my grandkids will see a world in which China is easily the dominant economy. (That’s not hypothetical grandchildren: second due in a few weeks)
Congrats, and I agree. Capitalism is way better. Rampant capitalism is not. China could definitely become #1.
I’ve always wondered what it would look like if a Hummer H2 could comment on a blog post.
Compromise is what it would take for BYD to take the sales crown.
The current presidential administration is in a tough spot. They want to electrify the US passenger car fleet, but they are holding the protectionist line against Chinese EV imports to stimulate US manufacturing. That is only hurting the people that can’t afford a decent used or new car.
I propose an EV compromise. Chinese built EVs are allowed to be imported, duty free, provided they meet these requirements:
These vehicles wouldn’t qualify for the federal $7,500 tax credit, however state and local credits would still apply. Anything not meeting those requirements would be subject to the current import tariffs.
Honestly, I wouldn’t expect anything to meet points 4, 5 and 6. At least for a couple of years.
Who would the 3rd party be for 4, 5, & 6 that wouldn’t be financially pressured by China?
I like this take, and I hate this take.
4, 5, and 6 make having 1, 2, and 3 very near to impossible. The main reason Chinese cars are so cheap is the stuff you’re banning in the last three points.
Which is why those points are there.
There’s forced labor in plenty of USA-made products, thanks to the prison system, which is the exact same crap the Chinese are doing. The difference is simply a matter of scale.
It was stomach turning to hear interviews with folk from a town that has a privately run prison complaining that drug decriminalization was immoral because “now where will we get people to fight the fires?”
I do not think Chine would need US sales to take the crown, just dual currency out the competition on the mainland and over extend surrounding countries via cheap but harsh penalty loans like they do for public works projects around them and they would just steam roll or loan shark the world to death.
BYD vehicles have been sold into Australia for the last three years.
We have quite robust anti-slavery legislation that requires independent supply chain verification of industry practices before import licences are granted. Amnesty International is one of those doing the verification.
Now, I’m aware that legislation and its enactment is not always perfect but in this high profile case… I’m fairly sure it’s working. Since it has already been triggered on the fashion industry…but not on any Chinese cars or their brands sold into Oz for the last twenty years.
Are transactional prices higher because of the extra supply chain verification?
Compared to what? Regardless, BYD and MG sell the two cheapest EVs in Oz at a smidge under AU$40k.
Compared to prices in other markets.
Not that I’m aware of. I know that BYD is cheaper in Oz than the UK but I’m not sure about MG and I’m not sure what of the GWM & SAIC range even makes it that far. Regardless, our legislation is derived from similar EU and British legislation so they’ve likely got much the same requirements in their markets
Yeah, I would support excempting cars under a certain MSRP threshold from any tariffs, since, as you pointed out, no current options really exist below a certain price. Hell, I’d be OK with saying all cars below a certain price (EV or ICE) should be exempted from FMVSS as long as they comply with UNECE standards – maybe the President could do that through executive order, declare the lack of sub-$20k new cars a national emergency (we’re already under 42 national emergencies as it is, what’s one more)
Raleigh, NC is also very close to the VinFast factory that is supposedly underway-groundbreak reported about 6 months ago. So, it makes sense to have a franchise in the nearby city, and landing Leith was a pretty big score, since they’re the largest dealer group around.
Ha ha, “supposedly” being the operative word.
<em>”Chinese state subsidies for electric and hybrid vehicles were $57 billion from 2016-2022, according to consulting firm AlixPartners, helping China become the world’s biggest EV producer and to pass Japan as the largest auto exporter in the first quarter of this year.
China terminated a generous 11-year subsidy scheme for EV purchases in 2022 but some local authorities have continued to offer aid or tax rebates to attract investments, as well as subsidies for consumers.
The EU investigation is looking at a broad range of possible unfair subsidies, from prices for raw materials and batteries, to preferential lending or cheap provision of land.”</em>
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-launches-anti-subsidy-investigation-into-chinese-electric-vehicles-2023-09-13
Only thing I can think of is the DFW area does have a respectable Vietnamese-American population whom Vinfast might want to target – which it does, but nowhere near as large as the Vietnamese population in Houston, so if that’s the reasoning, there’s some logic to it, but it also still isn’t the most obvious spot in Texas to start
The other option is that they tried a lot of different dealer groups and metro areas, and these are just the ones who actually signed up , take what they can get
I’m pretty close with a small portion of the Vietnamese population in Houston and they’re convinced Vinfast is an outright scam. I suspect Vinfast’s target market will be uninformed buyers who are only looking at their monthly payment and not the car they’re buying or leasing.
I’m thinking your 2nd option is the more likely, those two up in DFW were the only TX dealers willing to participate.
I’m in Vietnam right now and Vinfast has a taxi service with mostly e34 models and some 8 models. The smaller ones look a little bigger than a Bolt. I’ve ridden in two of the e34s and they seem decent material wise, the seats were comfortable the plastics were mostly hard plastic. I couldn’t tell about acceleration or top speed as we were mostly going 30km the whole time because of traffic.
They also have an e scooter ride service. It would be so nice noise and pollution wise if they could get rid of the gas scooters here since there are so many of them.
So, Tesla’s grip on the EV market is slipping a bit. That calls for a celebration.
Everybody Wang Chanfu tonight!
Also, I think Vinfast chose Raleigh just to be closer to Torch’s house.
They hired him to consult on the new “fast battery removal” process, which is still in the beta stage of development…
I’m not so sure that losing against the Chinese in any new major segments of global economy is much cause for celebration. (Unless, of course, you are Chinese.)
No, I just wanted an excuse to use the Wang Chanfu line.
Yeah, but now people are going to have that song stuck in their heads!
I can be evil that way.
Laughed out loud at “you’d be wrong/dead for a thousand years.” Well done!
BYD might not be where it is today without stealing intellectual property from Tesla.
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09GUANGZHOU612_a.html
As Americans, we should remember we did the same sort of thing from the Industrial Revolution on. Cotton mills, anyone?
It is a routine practice. There are lots of impoverished inventors out there whose innovations went on to make some already rich owners of corporations hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars…
Also easy for a hungry developing country to justify.
I’m not defending the Chinese just gently reminding everyone about throwing stones, etc.
I said that initial comment as someone fond of what BYD is doing today. The “communist” Chinese are currently showing more actual innovation and less conservatism in their designs than the US automakers(besides perhaps Tesla). There’s something very wrong with that picture, and it’s going to lead to problems in the domestic US market.
Someone needs to sell a new car at a low price over here, EV or otherwise.
Tesla’s cars were a joke back then, just a Lotus Elise with a bunch of laptop batteries. Early Model S models were no good, either, and of course, Sandy Munro tore them apart with the build quality. Tesla’s improvements are fairly recent, far ahead of where they were in 2008.
For a long time, Tesla wasn’t profitable, then they were only profitable from EV credits they sold to other automakers to offset CAFE fines. They’ve only been profitable from car sales alone for about 2 years.
Even 2008-era Chinese cars could’ve been better built than bailout-era GM shit.
That Chanfu story is fucking awesome.
A new car at a low price is probably going to have to come from either India or Malaysia at this point, due to the tariffs on Chinese vehicles, and Tata and Proton don’t seem too interested, unfortunately
Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, and Eastern Europe are also possible.
Shit, even China is still possible. Remember, China can undercut ANYBODY, and they don’t let shit like tariffs get in the way. In fact, the Chinese are starting to make cars in Mexico, too.
Hell, Geely keeps discussing on/off plans for an assembly plant in Cuba, think the only reason it hasn’t happened yet is 100% of sales being to government and rental car fleets causing concerns over viability without a private consumer market
If Cuba didn’t have U.S. sanctions holding it back and were able to develop some sort of functional economy under its flawed communist system, the people there might actually be able to afford new cars. As things are, they are blessed to have cars that are entirely repairable with basic tools. Were they stuck with cars from the 2010s instead of cars from the 1950s, there probably wouldn’t have been 1/1000th the working cars remaining on their roads as they currently have over the time span the sanctions have existed.
Currently the issue is private car ownership is mostly illegal, other than private cars that were already registered when the ban went in place in 1961 and were grandfathered in (which, until 2013, couldn’t even be resold as used cars, but were kind-of passed around within the same families over the decades). Over the past 10 years, the government has also been selling used cars to the public from their fleets, but new car sales are still banned, only way to get one is to have one assigned to you as part of your job or to be awarded the ability to lease one, again as recognition for performance at work. There’s loads of new and newer cars in Cuba, they just pretty much all belong to either the government or European-owned car rental companies. I mean, they have trade relations with like 190 countries, maybe can’t buy new F-150s, but there’s nothing stopping them from bringing in a shipload of Great Walls or BYDs
Vietnam also banned private car ownership until the late 1990s, but then they loosened things up and got VinFast
That would certainly put a limit on possible car sales.
What about bicycle ownership? I see a potential market for high-speed electric velomobiles there…
That Wichita VinFast dealer is going to look like a Blockbuster Video Store in 2019.
I think it’s inevitable that BYD takes the sales crown from Tesla. The Model Y being the most sold vehicle in Norway should put to rest all the people that say a BEV does not work in cold weather.
I saw a reel on Instagram of a guy visiting his sister in Norway and all but one of the dozen or so cars in the parking garage were electric. Not just Tesla but a nice mix of vehicles.
I saw a Vinfast on Highway 50 near Sacramento a month or so back. Not back looking but like any newer manufacturer I would be concerned over support. I also would not pay so much for so little range.
I am begging people who make this point to compare how cold it actually gets in the populated parts of Norway with the US Midwest.
Climate change is going to make the US Midwest a balmy, tropical paradise (just with more tornados, wildfires, and flooding). If you don’t use an electric resistive cabin heater, EVs have less efficiency drop in cold weather than ICE vehicles.
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/fuel-economy-cold-weather#:~:text=Cold%20weather%20effects%20can%20vary,to%2034%25%20under%20these%20conditions.
I put snow tires on my Maverick just after Thanksgiving and it’s been awful driving them with the average temperatures seeming like they’re in the 50’s (for Mid-Michigan). El Nino sure has been a bastard to those who like snow.
Most of January is expected to be mild like December, but February is when the storms and cold may come through. The mild weather this year has been caused by a ‘Pacific Jet Extension’, where the jet stream is strong and stable, keeping cold air North. PJEs have a timescale of around a couple weeks long. There’s another PJE forecast for mid-late January, the effects of which will end at the beginning of February.
I’ve got 2&1/2yo snow tires that just begged for me to use them last year—but, for the first time since 1890, we didn’t even get an inch.
I hate to wish it upon anyone who has to drive, but I really would like to see at least 2-3 4-5” events this year cause the Subaru is feeling neglected.
https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/68697~52849~16530~10405~14091/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Oslo-Bergen-Detroit-Minneapolis-and-Chicago
Okay. Oslo, by far the most populous city, is colder than Chicago or Detroit. Not as cold as MSP, but most people in the midwest don’t live as far north as MSP.
The average is relevant in some senses, but the extremes are what the car needs to be capable of functioning in.
Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Michigan north of Detroit, downstate IL, IN, OH, etc all regularly get much colder than Oslo.
The *all time record* low in Oslo is -14 F, a temperature reached every winter across the Upper Midwest.
They post data and as usual, you just ignore it.
I am not the one who made the sweeping statement that cold weather operation is no longer a big deal. To me and many others, it is.
I’m also not the one who thought an average was a relevant metric here. What is your response to my point about subzero temperatures; a very rare occurrence in Norway, but a very common one in the US?
On an average day, I don’t take a 500+ mile road trip, tow a trailer, drive on a racetrack, or carry my whole family with their luggage in my car either. But I own vehicles capable of all those things, because some days I do them.
Cold weather certainly impacts EVs, but the whining about it largely outweighs the issues. I’m not in the midwest, but in one of the coldest parts the mountain west (first below 0F temps we got were before halloween this year, some local sensors were reading in the -10 to -30F range one morning, and our average lows are below 0F for Dec, Jan, Feb- colder than the majority of the midwest outside of International Falls, but localized). Our primary vehicle with over 90% of our driving is a first model year Bolt, which is likely halfassed compared to newer EVs, and even it is fine. It is parked outside (our other car, an old Jeep generally basically never leaves our tiny 1 car garage all winter, as it is rarely ever useful when the 4wd roads are ski/snowmobile routes), and we only have level 1 charging off a normal outlet at home, but public L2 nearby. The car is fine. It doesn’t like the cold, but is far less cranky starting up on a -10 to -20F morning than any ICE vehicle we have had, usually just displaying that power is reduced and regen is not available until the battery is heated. Range is certainly reduced in the cold especially when the battery heater really starts going below ~10F, as are L3 charging speeds since it doesn’t precondition the battery like many newer EVs, but the only time that comes into play is if we are driving 150-200+ miles in a day, which is not common, for us or the majority of people (if it was common for people to regularly drive hundreds of miles a day in ICEs, we would quickly have severe fuel shortages).
There is certainly room for improvement, but really all it would need to be basically equivalent to an ICE for even longer 300+ mile drives in the cold would be the ability to L3 charge in ~20 minutes, something that should already be possible in “better” EVs.
I agree with you that the problem would disappear with improved recharging times, but we seem to still be quite far from parity with ICEs there as well.
You always seem concerned about the extremes when talking BEVs. While I understand that you need a vehicle that covers more use-cases than most, you’re not an average use case. You’re right when you talk about pushing BEVs to the extremes, however the whole point is that, by and large, the extremes don’t happen that often.
I don’t know the most up-to-date research metric (and it’s probably been changed by Covid-era commuting), but the last I knew the number, the average commuter travelled around 42 miles per day. With the current crop of BEVs on the market, even a 50% drop in range for cold weather wouldn’t be of concern for the average commuter. And that “average” person likely is going to drive less in extreme cold temperatures.
You’re right, BEVs in the extreme cold are going to take some additional considerations that ICE vehicles minimize. However, an average use case, in average cold for much of the country, isn’t going to see significant effects to the point they can’t even consider a BEV.
Again, the claim was, verbatim: “The Model Y being the most sold vehicle in Norway should put to rest all the people that say a BEV does not work in cold weather.”
I disagree with this claim. Similarly to range numbers in general, some people are fine with range loss in the cold, and some are not.
I focus on edge cases because that’s what I buy my vehicles for. In truth, since I own multiple vehicles, I am actually *less* sensitive to shortcomings of individual vehicles than someone who relies on one or two vehicles to accomplish everything they do. That person *needs* their car(s) to do everything.
If your budget allows you to buy a car that’s only for commuting and can’t easily be used for a road trip, especially in winter, by all means get an EV! They’re perfect for that use case. I just don’t see how very many households can justify spending $40-80,000 on something so limited.
You disagree with that claim for your use case. If so many people in Norway, seen as a very cold place, can adapt to driving BEVs, it’s not that life-changing.
With continued urbanization of the population in the US, and much of the US (outside of the Northern Midwest) being comparable in temperature ranges at the coldest, cold weather performance issues shouldn’t be at the forefront of BEV adoption arguments. Norway had around 79% of their new vehicle sales come from BEVs in 2022 (per this article), and I haven’t heard that they can’t go get groceries in the winter. (And while that last part was definitely snarky for snark’s sake, I’m coming at this from an open and honest perspective.)
Of course this is on a case-by-case basis for each person’s use. There is enough else that needs addressed in this country for BEV ownership that this is a moot point, and a scare-tactic for people against BEVs in general.
As long as we are being snarky for snark’s sake, the fact that the claim isn’t true for me means it can’t be true for “all” of the people who say an EV struggles in the cold.
I’m being honest as well. I didn’t say anything negative about getting groceries, commuting, or taking short trips in general. Once again, if your lifestyle and/or income allows you to have a vehicle that’s used exclusively for such things, I would go as far as recommending an EV to you, even if you lived in Siberia.
Cold weather decreasing range means potentially multiple hours added to family trips in the Midwest at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I admit to approaching this issue from the perspective of someone who regularly takes these trips and for whom those hours are a big deal. But it’s also false or misleading to suggest that I’m the only one who travels and feels this way. Or that Norwegians adapting to EV limitations in their oceanic climate means I automatically can in the Midwestern climate. That’s all.
Cold weather affecting EV range is a bit of a concern. A common use case for me is taking the car to a “local” ski hill about 50 miles away. Mostly uphill too on the way there. Having a usable 150 mile winter range to account for resistance heating, battery conditioning and weather would mean an EPA range of 200+ miles. I’m sure I’d get used to it considering I don’t think twice about going with half a tank in my current car.
Anecdotal comment, from an eastern neighbor of Norway… it is pretty cold in the Nordics now. On new years day there was -25 C (-14 F?) and really lots of people driving home after Christmas/New year holidays, me included. Around these parts EVs are not quite as mainstream as in Norway, but for example local gas station chain ABC at the village of Kuortti had all six charging bays full and several cars waiting in line. This in the middle of nowhere, maybe 120 miles from the population centers in the south. So maybe half or third or quarter of way to relatives/cottage/ski center. Yes, the distances are not huge, but in many cases enough to deplete the battery at least once. It works as long as there are places to charge. With our low population density the availability of chargers is not yet ideal, but apparently enough and improving. I´ve read some comments on forums, for example Model Y owners state that the consumption is quite reasonable, if the battery is warm – the trick is to charge it full just before a longer sub-zero trip, then it stays warm due to driving and charging. They also pan some of the Tesla ”features” in the snow, over reliance on cameras etc… So the winter is more of a infrastructure issue than a technical issue. Btw, many Norwegians also have cottages/holiday homes in the mountains/fjords, so they are not just sitting in drive in-queues around Oslo. And probably relatives to visit along the longish country..
Personally I hate queueing, so I will happily stick with my cng/biogas Skodillac for now, until the technology (and my finances) improve enough.
The infrastructure – at least in the US in general, but likely many more places as you just noted – is my biggest gripe with BEVs, and that gets exacerbated in the cold when ranges do drop. If the infrastructure got better, this point mostly wouldn’t need to be discussed.
The issue of BEV range decreasing in winter is really overblown. I’ve got a Tesla and a Subaru, and the Tesla is my primary ski vehicle, driving from Boston to NH and VT mountains.
I preheat it in my driveway (from the iPhone app) using house power; the car is toasty warm to start. A couple of short supercharging stops while I pee and get coffee, then a cold soak at the ski area. A supercharging stop while I pee on the way home, and done. Some mountains even have free level2 charging. I also take it when winter camping, when it absolutely, positively needs to start in the morning at the trailhead. Much more reliable than an ICE vehicle; even after a -14F cold soak it snaps to life.
First time I’ve heard anyone anywhere argue that Norway is actually kind of warm.
I mean seriously. Norway.
I grew up in Minnesota and still visit there often. By any measure, Norway is warm for me.
Oslo will be -24°C this Friday. Minneapolis will be -1C to -8C this weekend.
I’m not saying Norway is colder, but if -24°C is “warm by any measure” then this is my blank stare.
…. I’m sorry. I just saw an ad for Temu that was very questionable and now I’ve lost all train of thought.
I’ve never not seen one of those be questionable and at times, also bewildering.
also an “Ad” for a Hyundai Kona but the vehicle pictured is definitely not a Hyundai Kona.
This was something about being “balls deep” in someone for a birthday. It was… unexpected.
That’s the Smart Crossblade you’re seeing. So very weird.
Why does every Temu ad make them look like some shade, ID stealing scam site instead of a legit business? I know they’re in the top 5 of online retailers, depending on how you measure that, but they seem to need a new marketing department
Because that is exactly Temu’s business model:
https://www.nbcchicago.com/consumer/bbb-using-temu-could-expose-consumers-to-identity-theft-other-issues/3227474/
I had one for a large rubber-decapitated pig foot and another for a giant plush tardigrade. Is their tactic to actively get people to avoid shopping on their site? Or do they want the morbid curiosity clicks? https://imgur.com/a/gEUGb0e
Matt just thinks he’s gonna get away with calling Grapevine and Fort Worth “Dallas”. Shame.
Do they still call that area the “DFW Metroplex” or is that now old terminology?
Still, Fort Worth and Dallas are not the same city.
Lol, I definitely have that Houstonian bias of thinking anything north of Huntsville and east of Amarillo is “Dallas”
People from the Fort Worth side call it FWD lol. My wife is from Grapevine.
I still hear DFW metroplex regularly, all of the local news service both Tarrant and Dallas counties and the immediate surrounding county areas
Everything north of Waco to the Red River is “Dallas”. Just like everything in Illinois that’s north of 80 and east of 39 is “Chicago”.
Last time I drove it, seemed like the ‘city’ stretched halfway to the OK border. At least there is a little country between Waco and DFW.
In fairness, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex metro area covers 8,675 sq mi so that sounds like a pretty big target.