After all the rain in Bergen, we were glad to arrive in Oslo, Norway’s bustling capital. It is a world away from the sleepy Western fjords. It was sunny, positively summer on this side of the mountains. We were here to pick up the electric vehicle that we had hired through Avis car rental. We were poised to undertake our week-long road trip in Norway in an electric vehicle, from Oslo and Steinkjer to Bodo in the Arctic Circle along the 650km Kystriksveien or coast route.
The walk from Oslo train station to Avis’s Eco base at Ensjoeveien is an interesting walk. It takes you past residential parts of town you would not normally visit. The route also passes the Edvard Munch museum which is a very short walk from Avis base at Ensjoeveien.
Which model is best for touring
On arrival, we saw a single Nissan Leaf on the forecourt. It was an old model easily distinguishable by its design. Our heart sank as we discovered that this was the car assigned to us. It was a 2016 Nissan Leaf 30Kwh model with a range of just over 100miles (170km). This was the far cry from the 2018 model we had asked for. Unfortunately, the sales staff at this branch had little to no knowledge of electric vehicle performance or charging options. Fortunately, we were able to speak with the Manager who himself agreed that this car would not be suitable for a trip to Bodo.
Avis did try to assist
Our options were limited. He did however ring around and found a Volkswagen e-Golf electric model with a 250Km range. We agreed to hire this model although we had not researched this car and knew little about it, relying on the information from Avis. The catch was that the car was at another branch and had to be trucked to us. In addition, the car had not been charged and there would be another delay while they charged it when it arrived. We had a wait of 2-4 hours.
The Manager offered us the use of the Nissan Leaf to drive around town. We realised there was a kind of camaraderie at the charge points almost akin to having a dog. Everyone was keen to share their stories. Despite talking to quite a few electric car owners, and Norway is said to have the most, no one had done the tour route to Bodo.
We kept in touch with the Manager. By 7pm we decided to return to the office. Although the car had been delivered, it was being charged on a slow charge. There was less than 70km on the engine and it would require several hours to complete the charge. It would have been simple for them to take the car to a fast charge which would have taken roughly 30minutes charge time. No one it appeared knew how to use the fast charger. Nor did they know whether the charging cable came with the vehicle or was attached to the charger.
Cost of not driving an electric vehicle
Our dream of driving an electric vehicle around Norway was fast coming to an end. It was 8pm by now and we had no accommodation booked for the night as we did not know how far up the road we would be able to travel that day. Finally we agreed to accept an Audi A3. Inevitably, the cost of doing so was high. We not only had to offset the carbon costs, but we now had to pay higher toll chargers and ferry chargers and pay for fuel that cost considerably more. The current cost of Fortum fast chargers for either a Nissan or Volkswagen is 2.5NOK/min.
Nangle angle
The electric vehicles for hire in Norway are NOT the latest models and have only a limited range.
Nangle facts & time
Charging points can be found at a distance of 50-60kms on the main E6 highway. However on the Kystriksveien route itself there were only 2 superchargers, one at Bronnoysund and the other at Sandnessjoen.
Finally, we offset the carbon associated with this trip through Carbon Footprint.
