Dispatch from the Electric Vehicle Revolution

Hawaii's announcement that it will create an electric car infrastructure with 100,000 charging stations by 2012 is excellent news. The San Francisco Bay Area is promising to be not too far behind. Yet Hawaii (and the U.S.) trail when compared to Scandinavia's notable electric infrastructure actions.

Little Sweden (pop. 9 million), and even smaller Norway (pop 4 million) and Denmark (pop. 6 million) are at the forefront of the electric car revolution. People may accept $9 a gallon gas there with no protest, but they are also quietly battling to see which of the three countries can get electric car infrastructure in place the quickest.

Norway's winning. Oslo already has 50 of scores of planned city street-based (no special station) electric charging posts, as well as not one but two electric car producers (THINK and Buddy...Tata will also assemble it electric vehicle there). Sales of traditional cars dropped nearly 15 percent in the last year while sales of electric cars doubled in Norway. The numbers sold in 2008 are still small (under 500) but the market is active.

Photo courtesy Fortum.

Meanwhile, Sweden (and Finnish Fortum) definitely get the 'most stylish' electric recharging station prize. In Sweden electric hybrid and all-electric vehicles are beginning to be seen as a way to help Swedish car manufacturing (Saab and Volvo) climb out of their dark economic holes. Sweden's wind industry is pressing hard for the infrastructure build-out as it dovetails with the need to erect thousands of turbines to meet 2020 EU obligations for renewable energy production. Swedes are starting to visualize electric cars plugged into the windier nighttime network as a good rationalization for windmills dotting their pristine landscape.

Denmark is actually best prepared for the electric vehicle revolution. It has by far the largest percentage of electricity generated by wind (nearly 20 percent) globally. In partnership with Shai Agassi's Better Place, Denmark will with Israel be one of the first test markets for an electric system roll-out. Denmark is at work solving some of the infrastructure issues - such as having an intelligent grid that can both give juice to cars when they need it, and possibly take it back during times of peak demand.

Two things stand out about the Scandinavian experience: One, healthy competition is pushing faster innovation, and two, these countries have started to understand that electric and electric hybrids can be seen not just as a big investment in the parking lot, but also as smart energy storage devices.

In the U.S. we're a little behind both on the way we see both wind energy and electric vehicle technology. To keep pace with the rest of the world we need to take a page from the Danes, the Swedes, and the Norwegians. And we need a lot more Hawaiis.

More from TreeHugger on electric car infrastructure
::Swedes Battle Norwegians to Become Best Electric Car Mecca (Hint: Using Old Motor Warmers!)
::Denmark's DONG Bets Big on EVs
::Danish Climate Goal 2009: World's Biggest Fleet Of Electric Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars
::Cheapest New Cars in Norway Are Electric
::Linking Turbines Directly to the Tank
::Electric Car Capital: Stockholm, Oslo, Tel Aviv?