The BEV exemption on toll roads have not effectively been ended yet. Over the next few years it will however be reduced to a 50% discount. The schedule varies by region as there will be individual decision pr. toll road. F.ex in Oslo the discount will be changed from 100% to 75% in june. Most toll roads still have 100% discount, but yes it will change.

Large EV sales in norway are due to subsidies to the tune of the equivalent of USD~10-30000 pr. car:

* Goods (including cars) normally carry a 25% VAT. BEVs are exempted. (Easily worth USD 10-20000)
* Non BEV cars additionally carry taxes calculated from emissions and weight. Additional taxes for cars tend to range from the USD equivalent of USD 2000 to many tens of thousands for large performance cars.
* There are a lot of toll roads in norway. Many car drivers can spend the equivalent of USD 3000 annually on tolls. BEVs are expempted from tolls. (This benefit will likely be reduced shortly, but a 50% saving has been assured)
* Many cities have free parking for BEVs (Also likely to be a reduced benefit going forward)

For usability: Most roads are limited to 80km/h and most drivers do not drive excessively long distances. 15000 km annually is the average.
The parts of norway where very long driving distances are common (Northern Norway) BEV penetration is very low.
Winter range of BEVs can drop a bit on the coldest days but norway is mostly temperate. Subzero temperatures usually only occur 30-60 days pr. year in most populated areaes. (Though it varies greatly, but so does BEV adoption)

Note that the high numbers of EV sales in march is significantly due to that Tesla delivered ~5000 cars in. Tesla tends to deliver cars towards the end of the quarter, and Q1 saw the first availability of model 3 which had a large pent up demand, so do not expect next month to repeat this number.

Actually you do need a battery breakthrough. Current battery technology (lowest Co content available) would need 5-10x our current worldwide cobalt production if it were to be used in all personal cars alone, more if we were to use batteries for buses heavy transport, boats etc.

To get battery production to scale we need essentially zero cobalt use or another tenfold reduction, but that would arguably mean the same thing: A completely new type of battery. Current zero Cobalt types of batteries is getting phased out due to too low energy density. (I.e. LiFePO4 and LiMn2O4.)

Scaling up Cobalt production will take way too long. Cobalt is unfortunately not terribly abdundant and is mostly mined as a side product in copper and nickel mines.

By the current rates we will start to hit a supply crunch of cobalt on around 2021-22

The usual source of alpha emissions affecting memory in semiconductor devices come from the capsule of the device itself.

Safety != Security

Safety is keeping the world unharmed by your device
Security is keeping the device unharmed by the world (Or rather the attackers inhabiting it)

Not many EVs up north though. Distances are too long. Most EVs in norway are clustered ariound the bigger cities both because driving distances are less and because they are excempt from road tolls which are common in the urban centres. The temperatures in these areas are more modereate, though there is little evidence that EVs suffer hugely in the cold. 20-30% reduced range seem to be the norm, but keep in mind that snowy roads and winter tires also degrade range so it is not just about the cold. Also the effect is less on longer drives as the battery comes up to working temperature.

Well, no they are hugely popular due to beeing excempt from VAT and tax, they are allowed to drive in the bus lane, are allowed free parking in public parking spaces and are exempt from toll charges. For somone who drives 20000 miles annually including through Oslo on a daily basis a tesla model S can be cheaper than a skoda octavia here. The cost of energy (Wether it is gasoline or electricity) is very minor compared to other charges

Yes, coats are a lousy fuel, they constantly tangle up the turbopumps.

You are missing the point. Even if they do not care about traffic signals you are practically just as unlikely to get his as if they were. (I agree it is a psychological difference, but that is all there is)

Cyclists and pedestrians have less speed and more awareness of their physical size so they are able to negotiate through an intersection efficiently without traffic lights and without getting in each others way.

Volvo V60 twin engine is a diesel electric chargeable hybrid. Like a lot of hybrids it might not be sold in the US though.

Actually it looks like a manufacturing managers decision. Somone writes code that depend on that manufacturing needs to inject and track unique keys for each device. Manufacturing sees this and realizes they actually need to earn their keep and set up infrastructure to support product requirements, instantly balks, and force through a security hole they neither understand or care about.

Crystaline aluminum oxide (AL2O3) to be precise. This material is called ruby if it is red, or sapphire in most other colors (Provided it is of gem quality, otherwise it is just corundum regardless of color)

It is pretty much only diamond that can scratch sapphire.

Have you ever tried to ride with a good set of studded bicycle tires? Spinning or breaking traction really is no problem as they grip every bit as good as a studded car tire (Directly related to tire pressure), but are subject to much less sideways loading due to significantly less speed and mass.

Regarding lights, you obviously need to get a light to see by, not just a marker. Such lights are readily available and not at all a speciality item any more. (more often the problem lies in the opposite end: That lights are too powerful without enough thought to the light distribution, but light solving these issues are also easily available)

Bikes are not unstable at low speeds. It is hard to balance with NO speed (But you can just put a foot down), as long as you have any speed at all stability is good. Braking power is as good as your traction, which is very good with good studded tires. Compared to cars bikes have comparable contact area in relation to mass (Pretty much given by tire pressure)

I ride safely throughout winter and here we have ice and snow for 4-5 months every year with temperatures as low as -25C

Ice is handled by studded tires
Darkness is handled by lights
If you can dress up to do any outdoors activity in winter you can also dress to ride a bike.

Really, weather is not a problem.

Mangled my own text. Sorry.

Generally fast chargers will not be in constant use. Hence it is acceptable to build a battery pack in the charging station, which can charge at a more reasonable speed off the grid and be capable of delivering high current at a presumably much much less than 100% duty cycle.

This was done here: http://www.siemens.com/innovat...

(Apparantly slashdot chokes on the much much less than sign)