~Half Of New Car Sales In Oslo (Norway) In January Were EVs, Garage With 100+ Charging Points Opens

Around half of new personal vehicle sales in Oslo (Norway) during the month of January 2017 were sales of plug-in electrics.

To put that another way, around half of those who bought new cars (including SUVs, pickups, etc.) in the capital of Norway in January bought fully electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

This news comes to us via a recent report by Norway’s Elbil.no concerning the opening of a new electric vehicle charging station in Oslo … which includes more than 100 charging points.

The new charging location is reportedly the city’s “largest and most advanced charging garage.” Does anyone know of another location with so many charging points?

Here’s more on the subject: “The facility consists of two fast chargers up to 50 kW charging power and 100 flex chargers that provide up to 22 kW charging power. At night, residents of the area park and charge for free (at 3.6 kW). During the daytime, the regular parking fee applies and the opportunity to choose faster charging comes at a fee.” Clearly, businesses and consumers in Oslo have experience in this field, and the above system does seem like the most logical balance.

“The charging garage is a collaboration between Oslo and several private operators. Fortum Charge & Drive charging stations are the charging solution used in the facility, with smart power connected to its own battery bank.”

Oslo’s city councilor for environment and transport, Lan Marie Nguyen Berg (MDG), commented: “For Oslo, this part of a long-term effort to get more people to opt for zero-emission vehicles. We need to rethink and expand. The City of Oslo will go ahead and make it easier for the city’s growing number of electric vehicles. We will expand the supply of charging garages for EVs only, charging in municipal car parks, fast chargers, and semi-fast chargers. Not least, we will help make it easier to charge at home in cooperatives and condominiums through increased cooperation with the EV Association, Zero, Obos, and Hafslund.”

Good news for those in the city, especially when considering that a majority of Oslo’s residents seem to live in apartment buildings and thus don’t have access to home garages where they can charge overnight.

With EV adoption so high already, one has to wonder how much market share electric cars will take once the Tesla Model 3 (and Model Y) are on the market.