The King in the North

In partnership with

Hej from 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle from a top-secret location (Volvo’s Kiruna Proving Ground) with today’s edition of the newsletter. Something is interesting happening in the land of perpetual night, and it’s worth talking about.

In This Issue

• EVs Work Here

• It’s Incredibly Warm Here

EVs Work Here

Arriving at the Kiruna airport, one of the things you notice — if you’re car obsessed like me — is that there are a ton of level 2 EV chargers in the parking lot. For a rural airport in the middle of the Arctic, there isn’t a need for a ton of parking. However, there is a need for EV charging equipment.

In fact, at a glance, I would guess that the Kiruna airport has more level 2 charging capability than the whole of Detroit Metro Aiport, and that’s a world-class international hub in a city that perfected the mass-produced automobile.

Now if you go on the internet, you’ll read stories about how EVs don’t work in the winter. Yes, some things are different in the winter with an EV than in the summer, I would hazard to guess that 95% of the issues you hear about are self-inflicted, either for attention or because of ignorance.

The current Trump Administration is anti-EV for a lot of reasons, and even Elon Musk doesn’t seem to care about Tesla anymore, the fact remains that EVs do make sense for a lot of people, and the only two things that hold people back from making the switch are the price of new cars (all new cars are expensive, unfortunately), and the misconception that EVs can’t work if the weather is bit chilly.

Kiruna is Volvo’s northernmost test facility in the world, and it’s where it tests its entire lineup of vehicles to ensure that they work in all conditions. They, of course, aren’t the only automakers who test in the cold — nearly all of them do — but the narrative that currently exists Stateside about cold weather and EVs is absolutely ridiculous.

No vehicle is perfect, and no vehicle is perfect in the winter. Learning how to use the features of your EV to help mitigate the negative effects of the cold can go a long way to improving your EV ownership experience. But if you’re worried about buying an EV because you see cold weather or snow, don’t be. You’ll have a good experience and might even like the cold EV experience even better. Remember: You don’t have to wait for a gasoline engine to warm up to get heat in an EV. You just get heat.

Cut Through Noise with The Flyover!

The Flyover offers a refreshing alternative to traditional news.

We deliver quick-to-read, informative content across sports, business, tech, science, and more that cuts through the noise of mainstream media.

The Flyover's talented team of editors meticulously collects the day's most important news, ensuring you stay informed on top stories and equipped to win your day.

Join over 950,000 savvy readers and leaders who trust The Flyover to provide unbiased insights, sourced from hundreds of outlets!

Subscribe with One Click!

It’s Incredibly Warm Here

Even as the United States government is ordering its agencies to strip any reference to “climate change” from their systems, it can’t erase the fact that climate change is happening.

Subscribe to The Kirchner Report to read the rest