Norway’s electric shift
Norway is often described as the electric-vehicle capital of the world. On the surface that may seem surprising for a country that built much of its wealth on oil and gas.
The numbers are unambiguous. In December last year, electric cars accounted for almost 98 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Norway. Across the year, nearly nine out of ten new cars were electric; a shift no other country has come close to matching.
The reasons are well documented: generous tax incentives, high fuel prices, and abundant low-cost electricity generated from hydropower. But Niko believes there is another explanation.
“Living in the Arctic, we are the hardest hit. Temperatures are rising faster here than anywhere. There’s this feeling of the world that I live in, melting away in front of my eyes,” he says. “And what I find even more terrifying is this lack of will that I see to do anything about it.”
Outside, the mountains sit white and still against a steel-grey sky. Norway is expected to see winter temperatures rise by 2°C to 3°C by the end of the century. It is easy, here, to understand what he means.
In the early days, driving electric could feel like exploration in itself. Charging networks were thin and long journeys required patience. Today that uncertainty has largely disappeared. The Polestar 4 Long range Dual motor has a WLTP range of up to 590 kilometres and can charge from 10 to 80 per cent in around 30 minutes at DC fast-charging stations.
For Niko, the progress is tangible. “I follow it just by how far I’m able to go, driving past charging stations that I would have to stop at before, and now I can just zoom past for hundreds of kilometres more.”
And for all the political and economic arguments made in favour of the transition, he keeps returning to something simpler.
“Solving the problem doesn’t mean that your life needs to get worse,” he says. “It can actually get better.”
Which means the uncertainty is no longer the car. It’s the road ahead. And in Tromsø, that road leads somewhere the rest of the world hasn’t caught up with yet.
Learn more about Polestar 4 here.
