ELECTRIC MOTION

ICELAND’S TRANSPORTATION SECTOR IS GOING ELECTRIC, BUT COLLECTIVE MINDSET MAY BE HOLDING IT BACK.

E L E C T R I C M O T I O N

Words by KT Browne Photography by Skapti Hallgrímsson & Golli

Guðrún Einarsdóttir,

Director of Consumer Markets at ON.

“The question is no longer if you’ll get an electric car, but when.”

Electric vehicles (EVs) are on the rise in Iceland. In 2021 alone, 58% of all cars sold were EVs; today, more than 13% of the country’s total number of passenger vehicles are at least partly electric. Around the globe, the benefits of electric vehicles are being embraced as both environmentally and financially preferable for consumers and companies alike. In many places, the electrification of all things car-related has even taken on a cult-like lure.

Iceland’s switch to clean energy has gone far beyond the electric vehicle movement, with two-thirds of its energy production already clean thanks to vast geothermal resources that power most of the nation’s homes. As Iceland continues to strive toward its 2040 climate goal of carbon neutrality, the country is now turning its focus toward the transportation sector and transitioning its private and public markets to electric vehicles. However, change of this magnitude is more complicated than simply selling more electric vehicles.

Iceland is notoriously private car-focused; this mindset is part of its culture. It dictates the ebb and flow of communities, and it’s critical to upholding functioning daily lives against the backdrop of harsh, often violent weather conditions. Bolstering this culture is a limited public transportation system and the reality that 80% of the country’s residents live within the Capital Region, where everything a person may need is within an hour’s drive.

This private car culture, while practical, is proving to be a significant hindrance to Icelanders fully adopting electric vehicles. Perceptions of convenience have likely turned what might otherwise seem like a straightforward path toward EV use into a journey of twists and turns that not everyone is willing to make.

Driving without a trace

Orka náttúrunnar (ON) is a company that produces and sells electricity and hot water to Iceland’s capital region. The company’s highly recognisable, bright orange electric charging points at petrol stations around the country are impossible to miss. ON’s mission is to protect Iceland’s natural resources and uphold the principles of sustainability, green innovation, and responsible energy use with the goal of lowering the country’s collective carbon footprint.

ON is one of the leading organisations helping Iceland move toward its goal of becoming a world leader in clean energy use. Currently, the company is working to provide better service to electric car owners – a challenge that’s only been solved in part. “We put a great deal of effort into broadening our network of electric vehicle charging stations around the country,” says Guðrún Einarsdóttir, Director of Consumer Markets at ON. “We want to enable our clients to become more environmentally responsible by encouraging

Sigurður Friðleifsson, Orkusetur’s managing director.

“Everyone knows that you ride a gondola in Venice or a camel in Egypt. We’ve got to get the message out to the public that driving electric cars in Iceland is our brand of travel.”

them to use cleaner energy, and also by consistently increasing our infrastructure.”

ON’s story began in 2014 when it developed its first EV infrastructure. There were fewer than 100 electric cars in Iceland at the time. The EV boom has since given ON more than enough demand to work with, and today, the company has more than 200 charging points around the country. It even launched an app to streamline service information for consumers, which has been especially helpful for those unable to charge their EVs at home. “ON is constantly working to make it easier to participate in the clean energy exchange,” Guðrún says. “In general, the public in Iceland feels positive toward electric vehicles and will try to use domestically produced clean energy as much as possible.”

Electric vehicle infrastructure is quickly advancing: batteries are improving daily, and cars with ranges surpassing 500 kilometres [310 miles] are now on the market. Guðrún is hopeful these trends will also help Icelanders feel more comfortable taking the leap to buy an electric car. Still, she acknowledges that many have a lingering fear of driving an electric car, especially among those who have used conventional vehicles most of their lives. Ironically, this fear has earned its own Icelandic word, which roughly translates to “range anxiety.”

“Electric cars require different consumer behaviours, of course,” Guðrún explains. “You need to plan trips differently, consider charging station locations, and so on. It’s not going to be like pumping gas into a petrol car. Travel may take you longer, but it’s also not going to be significantly more complicated. ON does our best to help people adapt to the new lifestyle that goes hand-in-hand with electric car ownership because the question is no longer if you’ll get an electric car, but when.”

Trading immediacy for sustainability

Orkusetur is an organisation established by the National Energy Authority in collaboration with Iceland’s Ministry of Industry and Trade. Partly funded by the European Union, its mission is to increase energy efficiency and clean energy use across Iceland’s transportation sector. Sigurður Friðleifsson, Orkusetur’s managing director, is at the forefront of this effort; he’s championed increased efficiency of electricity use across the nation – without any change in service – while providing a better outcome for all.

Sigríður Harðardóttir, the company’s Director of Human Resources and Quality.

“That’s where we have a big responsibility – not only to provide customers with environmentally friendly transportation options but also to inform and educate them on the benefits of using public transportation.”

“We want to market the electric car as having similar, if not identical, service to the conventional petrol or diesel car,” he admits. “We have a concrete plan for doing this, but we also know that we’re up against a very traditional culture that’s hard-pressed on driving conventional cars. That’s not a good thing, it’s not sustainable, but it’s what we have to work with.”

This culture is probably better described as a mindset or even an on-brand response to the expectation of immediacy that permeates our modern lives. “People want to be able to go anywhere around Iceland, anytime, and on short notice. Petrol cars can serve that need, and people know it,” Sigurður explains.

Mindset aside, Iceland can easily be considered an ideal place to own an electric car due to the Capital Region’s population density and the country’s clean energy grid. Every electric vehicle station offers 100% renewable energy, for example, and the average consumer will not require a huge range to meet their day-to-day needs. “The problem isn’t necessarily practical; it’s that people want to buy electric cars without any limitations,” Sigurður says.

Luckily, that’s why marketing exists. The responsibility to change the collective mindset around electric vehicles lies partly in the hands of adjacent organisations, like ON and Orkusetur. “We need to convince those among us who are set in their ways that change can actually increase quality of life, that their lifestyle can adapt with ease, and that change is doable. That’s always the hardest part, though,” Sigurður says. “It’s tough to teach people how to adapt to a reality they’ve never experienced before. It becomes about changing an entire culture.”

What’s next for Orkusetur? Beyond changing mindsets, that is. “The Icelandic tourism industry,” Sigurður says. “People visiting Iceland essentially expect to rent a conventional car. The problem is, rental car companies are buying anywhere from 40 to 50 per cent of all imported cars, and most run on fossil fuels.” Fortunately, Sigurður has an idea for tackling this problem – and he’s not the only one. “Everyone knows that you ride a gondola in Venice or a camel in Egypt. We’ve got to get the message out to the public that driving electric cars in Iceland is our brand of travel.”

In a similar spirit, Iceland’s major city bus operator and transport company, Strætó, is on its own mission to shift outworn mindsets. “Consumer marketing is critical to changing minds,” says Sigríður Harðardóttir, the company’s Director of Human Resources and Quality. “That’s where we have a big responsibility – not only to provide customers with environmentally friendly transportation options but also

to inform and educate them on the benefits of using public transportation.”

Strætó is playing a significant role in leading Iceland’s public transportation sector toward carbon neutrality. The company has been operating electric buses since 2018, currently runs 15 around Reykjavík, and recently purchased nine new ones as part of a strategic expansion of its fleet. These efforts give Strætó notable influence over Iceland’s clean transportation movement. “Because of Iceland’s small population, consumer mimicry is more likely to work in our favour,” Sigríður explains. “Once larger groups of people become more aware of electric buses and the environmental issues around transportation, we’ll probably see a chain reaction across the country that quickens our progress,” Sigríður explains.

Though larger organisations certainly hold sway over consumer behaviour, whether change actually occurs is ultimately dependent on individual actions. “I do think that everyone will eventually need to choose whether or not to use electric transportation,” Sigríður admits. “People will need to decide if they want to become aware of how climate change affects countries beyond Iceland, and not just in our own backyards.”

Changing minds move forward

Time is hardly a luxury the world can afford in the context of climate change. As Iceland’s electric vehicles begin to outnumber conventional ones, it will become increasingly difficult to justify the cost of purchasing cars that run on fossil fuels, or riding buses that aren’t electric. Still, what may seem like an easy decision will always be somewhat complicated by the grip of long-term lifestyle choices.

“I often try comparing the switch from a conventional car to an electric one like moving from an old flip phone to a smartphone,” Sigurður explains. “Sure, you could go days without needing to charge a flip phone, but you also couldn’t do much with it. What this is really about is redefining what convenience means. Changing minds. I think we can do that.”

Surely every decision in life comes at the cost of an alternative outcome. In a perfect world, the decision-making process would prioritise evaluating what each outcome may look like over the work that precedes it. But our world isn’t perfect, and someone in the market for a new car may truly struggle to justify the lasting benefits of going electric when a heftier price tag hangs before them. For now, clean energy is about playing the long game along the path toward carbon neutrality. And as for the public’s willingness to keep up with it all – it’s safe to say they’re moving.