How to get from A to B — and avoid carbon emissions?
By end Q3 2019, around 4.200 pure electric cars had been registered in Finland. Add to this some 21.000 hybrids, and the total amount of pure electric and hybrid cars in Finland was around 25.000. Despite a phenomenal growth of nearly 100% compared to a year before (Technology Finland, 2019) — this still marks a striking contrast to Norway, where pure electric and hybrid cars amounted to some 420.000 in early 2019 (Wikipedia, 2020a). The population in the two countries is approximately of the same size, 5.3m in Norway (Wikipedia, 2020b) versus 5.5m in Finland (Wikipedia, 2020c).
Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation is key for Finland in order to achieve its target of carbon neutrality by 2035 — transportation accounts for 20% of all GHG emissions in the country, and of this more than 90% stems from traffic. Directing private car owners via taxes and subsidies to opt for less GHG emitting modes of private transportation is likely easier than trying to divert transportation of goods away from the roads (Helsingin Sanomat, 2019).
Clearly, looking at Norway, it is possible to achieve a substantial penetration rate of electric and hybrid cars but what is the secret sauce? I embark on a short survey on Facebook among friends in Finland to find out what they think about pure electric cars. I first provide them with the statistics around the electric car market in Finland compared to Norway and tell them that I will soon myself change from a fossil fuel driven car to a pure electric one and then ask them what would make them opt for a pure electric car? I quickly get answers from around 10 people and some interesting sharing of views and experiences takes place. Without any claims that the provided views are factually correct, it seems based on this limited survey that there is some suspicion that pure electric cars will in any case not only run on renewable energy and that the battery supply chain is unsustainable, among others. Hybrids and cars running on bio gas seem to attract slightly more trust than pure electric cars. I get the following responses on my short survey:
A. Views against changing to a pure electric car: 1) electric cars are too expensive and there is a lack of state subsidies ; 2) not enough renewable energy available on the Finnish electricity market to fuel all electric cars in a clean manner; 3) not feeling comfortable with the sustainability of the electric car battery value chain; 4) already using a hybrid of some kind; 5) not trusting that the electricity grid is stable in case of storm; 6) awaiting that solar panels could power the car; 7) too few charging stations; and 8) wondering what to do with the old fossil driven car.
B. Aspects supporting changing to a pure electric car: 1) much lower running costs for an electric car than fossil powered; 2) a more efficient engine; and 3) a much less complicated car which requires fewer repairs.
An observation I make is that several people seem to consider switching from fossil driven cars to cars running on bio gas, and that hybrids are seen as a bridge to pure electric. No one was unaware of why switching to less GHG emitting cars was important — a good sign of aware consumerism — and several were in fact already or considering switching away from fossil fuel driven cars to something less fossil based. If pure electric and hybrid cars should reach the national target of 250.000 cars by 2030 (Technology Finland, 2019), more and fact-based information and some carrots and sticks may though be needed.
Sources:
Helsingin Sanomat (2019) Liikenteen päästövähennystavoite ei toteudu näpertelyllä tai pelkästään poliittisesti helpoilla ratkaisuilla. Article published 15.1.2019.
Technology Finland (2019) Sähköisen liikenteen tilannekatsaus Q3/2019. Available from: https://emobility.teknologiateollisuus.fi/sites/emobility/files/inline-files/S%C3%A4hk%C3%B6inen%20liikenne%20tilannekatsaus%202019%20Q3%2020191118%20jaettava_0.pdf [Accessed 26 January 2020].
Wikipedia (2020a). Plug-in electric vehicles in Norway. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicles_in_Norway. [Accessed 25 Jan 2020].
Wikipedia (2020b). Demographics of Norway. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Norway. [Accessed 26 January 2020].
Wikipedia (2020c). Demographics of Finland. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Finland. [Accessed 26 January 2020].
