The car is the new mobile phone

The electrification of the Norwegian car fleet has proceeded rapidly. Thanks to a favorable tax regime, electric cars are an affordable alternative to the fossil car. This in a country where (fossil) car prices due to one-off taxes have always been in the international top tier. As more and more car manufacturers launch their electric model range, Norwegian buyers flock to.

Only one in ten passenger cars currently sold are pure petrol or diesel cars. The electric car is definitely Norwegian car buyers’ first choice. New fossil cars are on their way out and will be history in a few years.

The big markets are waking up

Finally, the electric car is also becoming the first choice for many car buyers internationally. The combination of a visionary and offensive Tesla and ambitious climate goals has led other major car manufacturers to finally acknowledge that the fossil car is becoming history.

Most striking is now Toyota, which drives a little late , but significant electrical offensive. The Japanese car manufacturer has long fronted its ambition of hydrogen as an energy carrier (abo). It is hardly an ambition they leave, but they realize that they now have to go to market with electric car models.

The giant VW group was a little ahead of the curve and has already taken rose up as a significant electric car manufacturer . At the other end, we find examples of how quickly the established flee from the solutions of the past. Such as Hyundai, which over the Christmas weekend closed down its research and development department for internal combustion engines .

The car becomes like a mobile phone

The dilemma for the established car manufacturers is that the electric cars of the future are something completely different from the fossil cars of the past. This is neither a new nor surprising observation. What was needed to constantly improve the fossil car is something completely different from what is needed in the car industry of the future.

The main challenge for the old and established manufacturers is not just that they come late to the market, but also that they lack the expertise needed to both design and produce tomorrow’s electric cars. Assembling a couple of thousand mechanical moving parts is something completely different than designing and assembling what is about to become our biggest “dupping thing” – full of sensory, processing power and (not least) advanced software.

Over the air

For us consumers, the electric car is already something completely different from yesterday’s fossil cars. Many of today’s models over the air (OTA) are already updated. The update is actually quite similar to what we are already used to on the mobile phone. We are notified that a new version of software is available, park the car in a wifi zone and download the upgrade. After a short time, new features and improvements are downloaded and installed.

This is how the car compares to the mobile phone. Constant updates improve the cars.

The car has a shorter lifespan

A possible downside with the development is that our cars age faster than before. Even ten- to twelve-year-old cars were previously sought after in the used market. The question is how it will be now. Admittedly, the batteries in electric cars have proven to last longer than first thought. And the Tesla model S from 2013 is still rolling on the roads. That sounds good. At the same time, there are so many new manufacturers entering the market, with so many new solutions, that few-year-old models will age relatively faster than their fossil ancestors.

The experiences from the mobile phone can prove to be trend-setting. When it comes to a point where your phone can no longer be upgraded or does not have new and desired features, the need for replacement increases.

The difference between mobile phones and cars is of course price . It is expensive enough to buy a new cell phone. Changing a car is a few tens of times more expensive. When consumers still want to upgrade the quad bike, there will be another argument for renting and not owning the cars of the future.

Not all the established survive

The changes in the car industry are now so great – and so many new players have come on the field – that there will hardly be life for everyone.

At the world’s largest technology show, CES in Las Vegas, GM’s CEO Mary Barra was supposed to deliver one of the big opening lectures. Yes, perhaps that was the greatest expectation. For what is GM doing now? Will electrification speed up? Will they come on the offensive, as Ford seems to have managed?

Only a few days ago, however, GM chose to withdraw from physical participation at CES. Like several other players, they do it because of the omicron wave. Let’s still hope that this in retrospect does not turn out to be the last opportunity for a top manager in GM to talk about the group’s electrical future.