5 ms·

Teslas are big sellers in Norway and Switzerland, yet (and I travel there often and even looked in Zurich showrooms) I don't hear them concerned.

maxerickson 14y ago
Are they such big sellers that most of the buyers can't afford to treat them like toys?
skrebbel 14y ago
Coincidentally also the two richest countries of Europe. I'm just guessing here, but there's a chance the percentage of buyers in those countries who don't also have a sizeable conventional car might be smaller than in other countries.
- allerratio 14y ago
  Electric cars are so common in Norway because they're actually cheaper there (lots of taxes on gasoline powered ones). At least that's what I heard.
Tloewald 14y ago
In Switzerland you're almost certainly closes enough to a decent sized town to stop and get rescharged at any time. Europe in general is just not as spread out as the US, nor are its cities defined by freeways. Different world. Tesla's other challenge, i suspect, will be really hot spread out places like parts of Australia.
eli 14y ago
If you drove the distance from Boston to DC in Switzerland, you wouldn't be in Switzerland anymore. The whole country fits inside New York State.
- willvarfar 14y ago
  I was particularly thinking about the evils of cold nights
- chmars 14y ago
  Random fact: Switzerland actually fits inside New York State 3.4225505632 times … :)
- genwin 14y ago
  Switzerland is about the size of West Virginia.
  - stcredzero 14y ago
    And even slightly more rugged in terms of landscape.
chmars 14y ago
Tesla sales numbers for Switzerland: 2010 = 44 / 2011 = 51 Source: http://www.auto-i-dat.ch/download/fahrzeugmarkt/Schweizer_Fahrzeugmarkt_2012.pdf http://www.auto-i-dat.ch/download/fahrzeugmarkt/Schweizer_Fa... According to a media release from July 27, 2012, Tesla counted more than 130 Tesla cars in Switzerland: http://www.presseportal.ch/de/pm/100020821/100722406/tesla-baut-sein-netz-weiter-aus http://www.presseportal.ch/de/pm/100020821/100722406/tesla-b...
j-g-faustus 14y ago
Number of Teslas registered in Norway: 15 in 2010, 48 in 2011, so they sold 33 Teslas in 2011. Source: Statistics Norway[1], the official state agency for everything statistics. Compared to say ~300,000 registered Toyotas (2011), I guess it depends on how you define "big" :) But we do have a somewhat sizeable enthusiast "electric car" community. We deal with the cold by plugging in whenever possible, and most electric cars are used only for local transport. There's apparently two Tesla S in Norway at the moment. It has generated interest here as well, and we have articles like "How to charge the Tesla Model S" [2] on a site that translates to "charging-stations.no", [1] http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selecttable/hovedtabellHjem.asp&KortnavnWeb=bilreg http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid... [2] http://www.ladestasjoner.no/nyheter/75-hvordan-kan-tesla-model-s-lades http://www.ladestasjoner.no/nyheter/75-hvordan-kan-tesla-mod...

maxerickson 14y ago

Are they such big sellers that most of the buyers can't afford to treat them like toys?

skrebbel 14y ago

Coincidentally also the two richest countries of Europe. I'm just guessing here, but there's a chance the percentage of buyers in those countries who don't also have a sizeable conventional car might be smaller than in other countries.

allerratio 14y ago
Electric cars are so common in Norway because they're actually cheaper there (lots of taxes on gasoline powered ones). At least that's what I heard.

Tloewald 14y ago

In Switzerland you're almost certainly closes enough to a decent sized town to stop and get rescharged at any time. Europe in general is just not as spread out as the US, nor are its cities defined by freeways. Different world. Tesla's other challenge, i suspect, will be really hot spread out places like parts of Australia.

eli 14y ago

If you drove the distance from Boston to DC in Switzerland, you wouldn't be in Switzerland anymore. The whole country fits inside New York State.

willvarfar 14y ago
I was particularly thinking about the evils of cold nights
chmars 14y ago
Random fact: Switzerland actually fits inside New York State 3.4225505632 times … :)
genwin 14y ago
Switzerland is about the size of West Virginia.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  And even slightly more rugged in terms of landscape.

chmars 14y ago

Tesla sales numbers for Switzerland: 2010 = 44 / 2011 = 51 Source: http://www.auto-i-dat.ch/download/fahrzeugmarkt/Schweizer_Fahrzeugmarkt_2012.pdf http://www.auto-i-dat.ch/download/fahrzeugmarkt/Schweizer_Fa... According to a media release from July 27, 2012, Tesla counted more than 130 Tesla cars in Switzerland: http://www.presseportal.ch/de/pm/100020821/100722406/tesla-baut-sein-netz-weiter-aus http://www.presseportal.ch/de/pm/100020821/100722406/tesla-b...

j-g-faustus 14y ago

Number of Teslas registered in Norway: 15 in 2010, 48 in 2011, so they sold 33 Teslas in 2011. Source: Statistics Norway[1], the official state agency for everything statistics. Compared to say ~300,000 registered Toyotas (2011), I guess it depends on how you define "big" :) But we do have a somewhat sizeable enthusiast "electric car" community. We deal with the cold by plugging in whenever possible, and most electric cars are used only for local transport. There's apparently two Tesla S in Norway at the moment. It has generated interest here as well, and we have articles like "How to charge the Tesla Model S" [2] on a site that translates to "charging-stations.no", [1] http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid=0&nvl=true&PLanguage=0&tilside=selecttable/hovedtabellHjem.asp&KortnavnWeb=bilreg http://statbank.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/Default_FR.asp?PXSid... [2] http://www.ladestasjoner.no/nyheter/75-hvordan-kan-tesla-model-s-lades http://www.ladestasjoner.no/nyheter/75-hvordan-kan-tesla-mod...