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This is what it looks like to truly be one of the wealthiest countries
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jaykrown lemmy.world jaykrown@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-11-20
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305   Original
Carrots quokk.au Carrots@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-09-30
#2 · Quote Reply

Haha no China and they make them.

Also, haha USA can’t get them.

Also, haha Russians can’t keep the power on long enough to charge them.

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NotMyOldRedditName lemmy.world NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-24
#3 · Quote Reply

Norway 98%

Others: EVs dont work in the cold.

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artyom piefed.social artyom@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-08
#4 · Quote Reply

Norway 98% Others: EVs dont work in the cold.

No one thinks EVs don't work in the cold, they just have severely shortened range. Which means you need a bigger battery, which means a heavier and more expensive vehicle. You also need faster and more frequent chargers. This is similar to the "Electric trucks can't tow" strawman. They absolutely can, just not very far . Either is a legitimate reason not to purchase an EV. As stated in the OP, these are wealthy nations where the government is heavily invested, which is smart, but the same doesn't apply everywhere.

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NotMyOldRedditName lemmy.world NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-24
#5 · (edited) Quote Reply

No one thinks EVs don't work in the cold, they just have severely shortened range. Which means you need a bigger battery, which means a heavier and more expensive vehicle. You also need faster and more frequent chargers. This is similar to the "Electric trucks can't tow" strawman. They absolutely can, just not very far . Either is a legitimate reason not to purchase an EV. As stated in the OP, ...

Because clearly articles like this wouldn't exist of NO ONE thought they didnt work in the cold

Do EVs Work in Cold Weather?

https://www.greencarfuture.com/electric/why-evs-dont-work-in-cold-weather

"Electric vehicles do not work in the winter”: Exploring the role of misperceptions and socio-psychological factors in zero-emission vehicle adoption

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629625005316

“Electric vehicles do not work in the winter” is one of the misperceptions affecting interests in low-carbon transportation and hindering the electrification of passenger transportation. This study aimed to examine the role of misperceptions of battery electric vehicles and socio-psychological factors in influencing zero-emission vehicle adoption with empirical evidence from Saskatchewan, Canada.

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yessikg fedia.io yessikg@fedia.io
Joined: 2025-06-22
#6 · Quote Reply

Extremely loud buzzer Incorrect! Nepal is at 73% and Ethiopia banned new ICE sales

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DarkCloud lemmy.world DarkCloud@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-05-19
#7 · (edited) Quote Reply

The Netherlands is the most populated of those countries with all of 18 million people, the next most populated is Belgium with 12 million people.

The rest have less than 12 million. Norway and Finland are the least populated with around 6 million each.

I feel like their good governance and ability to share the wealth mor equitably relates to their small populations.

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NoneOfUrBusiness fedia.io NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-06-13
#8 · Quote Reply

Haha no China and they make them. Also, haha USA can’t get them. Also, haha Russians can’t keep the power on long enough to charge them.

I mean China is really fucking big and large parts of it not that rich, so that makes sense.

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dillekant slrpnk.net dillekant@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-20
#9 · Quote Reply

The comments here are great pushing against this, the other thing I'll add is that this is a capex vs opex thing. Operating an EV is way cheaper but purchasing one is more expensive. Additionally rich countries are often more demanding than poorer ones because the opex cost is "real" in poorer countries. Governments can essentially solving this by underwrite this cost, create nice loans, cashbacks, tax backs, etc etc.

One example I give is that in India, you have electric bikes and scooters which are quite attractive because of the running costs, but they have low range and low power. Indians are just practical with how much money they have so they'll make the tradeoffs. In richer countries, they don't even sell the equivalent bikes or scooters because someone in those countries just turns their nose up at the power or range.

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Don Kiedyck lemmy.world don_kiedyck@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-03-10
#10 · Quote Reply

It’s always this same group of countries doing awesome shit.

I need to move.

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Warl0k3 lemmy.world Warl0k3@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-11
#11 · (edited) Quote Reply

Haha no China and they make them. Also, haha USA can’t get them. Also, haha Russians can’t keep the power on long enough to charge them.

China was likely excluded because it was tied for 6th place at the time this graph was written (By the IEA percentages now, china is only at 53% while sweden is at 61% - it is a somewhat misleading statistic), and this is a list of the top 6 european. And as to the "the US doesn't have EVs" meme (sigh):

Retail sales of the battery-electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models qualifying for the incentive fell 26.6% and 13.9% year over year, respectively. Even with those declines, electrified vehicles, including BEVs, PHEVs and hybrids (HEVs), accounted for 26.9% of U.S. retail sales in the second quarter of 2026, according to Urban Science’s daily new-vehicle sales data through June 30, 2026.

(source)

If you're interested (it is very boring I confess), this article has a great breakdown on the US car market from the start of this year.

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Warl0k3 lemmy.world Warl0k3@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-11
#12 · (edited) Quote Reply

Extremely loud buzzer Incorrect! Nepal is at 73% and Ethiopia banned new ICE sales

Some developing countries with low levels of car ownership are not covered by the IEA data but have reportedly seen impressive EV uptake in the last few years.

For example, countries like Ethiopia, Nepal and Sri Lanka went from essentially no EV imports five years ago to the majority of their imports being EVs in 2024.

Nepal and Ethopia are generally excluded from these lists due to the small numbers issue that skews their results - 65% of the cars sold in Nepal in 2025 were EVs, but there were only 20,000 cars sold there total (and the data available is unreliable)

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MrMakabar slrpnk.net MrMakabar@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-09
#13 · Quote Reply

We are really seeing how some countries are transforming into electrostates now. Honestly it is more good governing and is also happening in poorer countries. The long term impacts will be massive though, as cars are a huge oil consumer and being less dependent on it, makes you less dependent on a bunch of really shitty countries(US, Iran, Russia, the Gulf States and so on)

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Hanrahan slrpnk.net hanrahan@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-03-14
#14 · Quote Reply

Extremely loud buzzer Incorrect! Nepal is at 73% and Ethiopia banned new ICE sales

Laos has a temp ban on new ICE vehicles, not sure if that temp ban will be extended

I can only hope they don't go full stupid and can skip cars for escooters, ebikes etc although there were unfortunately a lot of cars when i was there 2 years ago

I was surprised at how many e-cars there where in Cambodia when i was there last month, alas also way more cars then when I was there 10 years ago. That's going to end up a complete mess of traffic ah la Manila.

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frank sopuli.xyz frank@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-05
#15 · Quote Reply

It’s always this same group of countries doing awesome shit. I need to move.

As someone who moved to one of them years ago from the US, it's fucking sick: 10/10 recommend.

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Hanrahan slrpnk.net hanrahan@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-03-14
#16 · (edited) Quote Reply

The comments here are great pushing against this, the other thing I'll add is that this is a capex vs opex thing. Operating an EV is way cheaper but purchasing one is more expensive. Additionally rich countries are often more demanding than poorer ones because the opex cost is "real" in poorer countries. Governments can essentially solving this by underwrite this cost, create nice loans, cashba...

Operating an EV is way cheaper but purchasing one is more expensive

That's not true, Australia has a small BYD Atto 1 for $A20k ($14kUSD) and that's with taxes, there are no ICE vehicles for that price.

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Fallibilist feddit.uk Fallibilist@feddit.uk
Joined: 2026-09-15
#17 · Quote Reply

I'm not sure "wealthy" is the correct term here. There's quite a wealth gap between Norway and Finland for example. Finland's economy haven't been good for a decade and we have one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.

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AItoothbrush lemmy.zip AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-12
#18 · Quote Reply

What about just not buying cars? The most environmentally freindly countries are apparently does that just cant afford the western way of life. Why cant we have walfare, social security, etc while having good urbanism and low car usage?

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jdr lemmy.ml jdr@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2021-07-28
#19 · Quote Reply

But where did you get that money Norway? Hmmm?

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mirshafie europe.pub mirshafie@europe.pub
Joined: 2025-11-07
#20 · Quote Reply

What about just not buying cars? The most environmentally freindly countries are apparently does that just cant afford the western way of life. Why cant we have walfare, social security, etc while having good urbanism and low car usage?

Sweden and Norway have quite low population densities, and Norway especially is very difficult in terms of building infrastructure. Fjords and mountains are beautiful, but they're a nightmare to build any kind of infrastructure for. So it will be a lot of dirt roads, sharp turns et.c. and not suitable for rail.

That being said, urban centers should likely be almost entirely car-free.

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Nurgus lemmy.world Nurgus@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-07-23
#21 · (edited) Quote Reply

But where did you get that money Norway? Hmmm?

Invested their oil wealth in a massive highly diverse sovereign wealth fund generations ago.

Nothing was stopping other countries from doing the same thing. But state investment is "ARGFFHG SOCIALISM BZZZZTT WANT TO BE LIKE VENEZUELA??" so we didn't.

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jdr lemmy.ml jdr@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2021-07-28
#22 · Quote Reply

Invested their oil wealth in a massive highly diverse sovereign wealth fund generations ago. Nothing was stopping other countries from doing the same thing. But state investment is "ARGFFHG SOCIALISM BZZZZTT WANT TO BE LIKE VENEZUELA??" so we didn't.

Nothing was stopping other countries from doing the same thing.

Except for having large quantities of oil, conveniently discovered after the country was stable and industrialized.

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AItoothbrush lemmy.zip AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2023-06-12
#23 · Quote Reply

Sweden and Norway have quite low population densities, and Norway especially is very difficult in terms of building infrastructure. Fjords and mountains are beautiful, but they're a nightmare to build any kind of infrastructure for. So it will be a lot of dirt roads, sharp turns et.c. and not suitable for rail. That being said, urban centers should likely be almost entirely car-free.

Yeah but like 60% of the population is in large urban centers and theyre already connected in norway by huge road tunnels and bridges, they could have trains as well. As for sweden, the government just doesnt spend money on public transit and when it does they throw it away on random stuff. Many tracks are in disrepair, out of use and the main high speed lines are constructed in stupid places. There are like 2 population corridors that make up 50% of swedens total population, thats three good highspeed lines to connect them but even that isnt achieved in a reliable way. As for transport within cities, apart from gothenburg and stockholm its pretty bad as well.

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the_strange feddit.org the_strange@feddit.org
Joined: 2024-06-22
#24 · Quote Reply

Yeah but like 60% of the population is in large urban centers and theyre already connected in norway by huge road tunnels and bridges, they could have trains as well. As for sweden, the government just doesnt spend money on public transit and when it does they throw it away on random stuff. Many tracks are in disrepair, out of use and the main high speed lines are constructed in stupid places. ...

It's not better in Norway. There's always something wrong with the trains. There's been abysmal punctuality or cancellation numbers that would make even German train operators blush. They're on partial strike at the moment and although there are many cancellations I hardly notice any difference between a planned disruption by strike and an unplanned disruption by mismanagement.
And biking in urban centers is near suicide. The Norwegian Cyclists' Association recently published their biannual questionnaire results and only 18% think that cycling is "generally save across all age and experience groups".

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dillekant slrpnk.net dillekant@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-20
#25 · (edited) Quote Reply

Operating an EV is way cheaper but purchasing one is more expensive That's not true, Australia has a small BYD Atto 1 for $A20k ($14kUSD) and that's with taxes, there are no ICE vehicles for that price.

So I did a very generic statement. The Atto 1 is indeed quite cheap, but it's not exactly a best-seller (they recently dropped the price by 4kAUD, or nearly 20% off). In fact, basically none of the "cheap" EVs (Geely EX2, GWM Ora, etc) are selling in great numbers, and that was my point. So in my example, Australians "turn up their noses" at the Atto 1 because there are too many compromises. Despite the price, it's Australia's 10th best selling EV. People would rather spend a bit more and get an MG4 or an Atto 2 / 3.

To some extent, EVs in Australia are going so well right now because they've hit a "Luxe" threshold, where you get an EV with luxury features for the same price or a bit less than the equivalent Petrol car. Put another way, it's not that the Atto 1 is cheap, it's that no one is selling a Petrol car in Australia which is cheaper because Australians just won't touch it.

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artyom piefed.social artyom@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-08
#26 · Quote Reply

Because clearly articles like this wouldn't exist of NO ONE thought they didnt work in the cold Do EVs Work in Cold Weather? https://www.greencarfuture.com/electric/why-evs-dont-work-in-cold-weather "Electric vehicles do not work in the winter”: Exploring the role of misperceptions and socio-psychological factors in zero-emission vehicle adoption https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pi...

You mean articles talking about how supposed misconceptions are wrong? How about find one that says it in the affirmative?

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HowdyLemmy lemmy.zip HowdyLemmy@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2024-11-20
#27 · Quote Reply

You mean articles talking about how supposed misconceptions are wrong? How about find one that says it in the affirmative?

NotMyOldRedditName is responding to your statement that no one thinks EVs don't work in the cold, not whether the idea of "working" or shortened range is correct.

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VibeSurgeon piefed.social VibeSurgeon@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-15
#28 · Quote Reply

It's only 49% in Sweden because of the braindead right wing government we've had for the past 4 years.

They lost the election though so maybe we can still right the ship

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Carrots quokk.au Carrots@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-09-30
#29 · Quote Reply

China was likely excluded because it was tied for 6th place at the time this graph was written (By the IEA percentages now, china is only at 53% while sweden is at 61% - it is a somewhat misleading statistic), and this is a list of the top 6 european. And as to the "the US doesn't have EVs" meme (sigh): Retail sales of the battery-electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models qualifying for t...
[deleted]
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Warl0k3 lemmy.world Warl0k3@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-11
#30 · (edited) Quote Reply

[deleted]

It’s like the same Lemmy bot that does all the pro China stuff just got launched for anti-China. Wild times.

In what way is this anti-china? I even clarify that the statistic is potentially misleading by putting china below sweden in the source report. The OP list simply excludes china because china isn't in europe.

Nice alt.

Of... who, exactly?

Lemmy bot

I would be willing to bet that out of all lemmy users you can encounter in the wild, I have provided by far the most evidence of my humanity.

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HerbGrower slrpnk.net HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2026-07-09
#31 · Quote Reply

But what about electric trains and buses?

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Carrots quokk.au Carrots@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-09-30
#32 · Quote Reply

It’s like the same Lemmy bot that does all the pro China stuff just got launched for anti-China. Wild times. In what way is this anti-china? I even clarify that the statistic is potentially misleading by putting china below sweden in the source report. The OP list simply excludes china because china isn't in europe. Nice alt. Of... who, exactly? Lemmy bot I would be willing to bet that out of a...

The comment was removed prior to your reply because I replied to the wrong message in my inbox. Fat fingers just swipe everything all at once. My apologies.

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Robert7301201 slrpnk.net Robert7301201@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-13
#33 · Quote Reply

As someone who moved to one of them years ago from the US, it's fucking sick: 10/10 recommend.

Any advice to share?

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Boingboing_r lemmy.world Boingboing_r@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-02-19
#34 · Quote Reply

Any advice to share?

Stay right on escalators. Swedes are very passionate about that.

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Warl0k3 lemmy.world Warl0k3@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-11
#35 · Quote Reply

The comment was removed prior to your reply because I replied to the wrong message in my inbox. Fat fingers just swipe everything all at once. My apologies.

Ah, my apologies then - I suspect the removal hasn't federated quite yet.

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varnia lemmy.blahaj.zone varnia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2025-06-04
#36 · Quote Reply

Germany: 34.5% because the government and the people are stuck in last century. It is ridiculous and incomprehensible.

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frank sopuli.xyz frank@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-05
#37 · Quote Reply

Any advice to share?

To move or to visit? Yes, either way

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gewindestift feddit.org gewindestift@feddit.org
Joined: 2026-06-06
#38 · Quote Reply

But where did you get that money Norway? Hmmm?

money for what? EVs are not more expensive than fossil cars

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late_pessimistic slrpnk.net late_pessimistic@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2026-07-05
#39 · Quote Reply

Haha no China and they make them. Also, haha USA can’t get them. Also, haha Russians can’t keep the power on long enough to charge them.

Does Russia have power outages now?

My bet on why they don't drive EVs would rather be poverty and Putin being against renewables.

1
Carrots quokk.au Carrots@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-09-30
#40 · Quote Reply

Does Russia have power outages now? My bet on why they don't drive EVs would rather be poverty and Putin being against renewables.

I’m just cracking jokes regarding their recent power plant attacks

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jdr lemmy.ml jdr@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2021-07-28
#41 · Quote Reply

money for what? EVs are not more expensive than fossil cars

I don't accept your premise but: EV subsidies, EV infrastructure, social programmes

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razen lemmy.world razen@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-03-08
#42 · Quote Reply

Man being born in one of these countries currently is just a luxury, especially Denmark and Norway

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untorquer quokk.au untorquer@quokk.au
Joined: 2025-12-03
#43 · (edited) Quote Reply

No one thinks EVs don't work in the cold, they just have severely shortened range. Which means you need a bigger battery, which means a heavier and more expensive vehicle. You also need faster and more frequent chargers. This is similar to the "Electric trucks can't tow" strawman. They absolutely can, just not very far . Either is a legitimate reason not to purchase an EV. As stated in the OP, ...

Having driven electric vehicles in norway in the winter (-20C avg) i can safely inform you their range is not noticeably shortened, even blasting the heat.

Also my diesel which normally gets 50mpg drops to 20-25 when towing.

🤷

Maybe don't eat the slop the talking heads are paid to shovel into the trough.

The alarms and "safety features" on new cars are annoying af though. Driving my 2009 into the ground.

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Goodlucksil lemmy.dbzer0.com Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2025-08-15
#44 · Quote Reply

Nothing was stopping other countries from doing the same thing. Except for having large quantities of oil, conveniently discovered after the country was stable and industrialized.

The US also has lots of oil

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mirshafie europe.pub mirshafie@europe.pub
Joined: 2025-11-07
#45 · Quote Reply

Yeah but like 60% of the population is in large urban centers and theyre already connected in norway by huge road tunnels and bridges, they could have trains as well. As for sweden, the government just doesnt spend money on public transit and when it does they throw it away on random stuff. Many tracks are in disrepair, out of use and the main high speed lines are constructed in stupid places. ...

Let's not underestimate the costs of building rail. You're always going to have roads first, because ambulances don't go on rail. So that's not optional. Rail is an addition, and you do have to factor in a lot to figure out if it's really worth it (including environmentally). And if you need to literally make a tunnel or a bridge to add a train, like you do in most of Norway, it's not really going to work.

Within urban centers however I do agree that rail is a good complement to good bicycle lanes, and it is a fact that deregulation and underinvestment in rail over the past 40 years really is hitting Sweden hard. Unfortunately the people who are in charge of public transit have never gone anywhere by bus, so they're clueless of what to do.

2
artyom piefed.social artyom@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-08
#46 · Quote Reply

NotMyOldRedditName is responding to your statement that no one thinks EVs don't work in the cold, not whether the idea of "working" or shortened range is correct.

...yes? I understood that.

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jdr lemmy.ml jdr@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2021-07-28
#47 · Quote Reply

The US also has lots of oil

That is totally correct

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artyom piefed.social artyom@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-08
#48 · (edited) Quote Reply

Having driven electric vehicles in norway in the winter (-20C avg) i can safely inform you their range is not noticeably shortened, even blasting the heat. Also my diesel which normally gets 50mpg drops to 20-25 when towing. 🤷 Maybe don't eat the slop the talking heads are paid to shovel into the trough. The alarms and "safety features" on new cars are annoying af though. Driving my 2009 into t...

Having driven electric vehicles in 10 Texas Winters, and also paying attention to some basic science, I can assure you it absolutely is.

Also my diesel which normally gets 50mpg drops to 20-25 when towing.

No one cares when there's 3 fueling stations per mile and it only takes 5 minutes to refuel.

Maybe don't eat the slop the talking heads are paid to shovel into the trough.

Maybe stop fucking lying 🤷

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Jax sh.itjust.works Jax@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-08-22
#49 · Quote Reply

As someone who moved to one of them years ago from the US, it's fucking sick: 10/10 recommend.

How hard is it to learn the language?

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MBech feddit.dk MBech@feddit.dk
Joined: 2025-02-17
#50 · Quote Reply

Man being born in one of these countries currently is just a luxury, especially Denmark and Norway

I gotta say, for all the dumb shit we're dealing with, it's pretty terrific in Denmark.

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wewbull feddit.uk wewbull@feddit.uk
Joined: 2023-06-22
#51 · (edited) Quote Reply

Germany: 34.5% because the government and the people are stuck in last century. It is ridiculous and incomprehensible.

Also because the car companies there denied that electric vehicles were going to happen for eons. I'm not even sure some of them have accepted it even now.

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