ENGINE
Year by year, electric cars move into the Greenlandic market. This happens as technology develops with larger batteries and faster charging times. At the same time, the range of electric cars is enormous. – Our experience is that they function stably in daily use also in winter, says sales manager at Deres Auto in Nuuk.
Out of the 7,088 passenger cars, vans and trucks driving around Greenland are the 795 electric cars. This is shown by a calculation from Statistics Greenland from May 2025.
Since 2020, the number of electric cars has been steadily increasing year by year, and it looks set to continue.
The same trend can be seen in large parts of Europe. This is what Torben Arent, news editor at FDM’s magazine Motor, tells us.
– In Denmark, it is the most unambiguous. In January and February, we were fully aware that 80-90 percent of all new cars sold were electric cars. Looking beyond Europe, it is a more varied picture. In Southern Europe, electric cars make up only 5 percent of the market share, while in countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain, electric cars make up approx. 20 percent of all passenger cars on the road. The average in Europe is currently 19 percent.
Huge selection
According to Torben Arent, the popularity of electric cars is due to the fact that you currently get the most for your money by buying an electric car.
– Operating costs are lower, and there is a huge selection of different electric cars. This year there will be 65 new cars on the market, and 60 of them will be electric cars. So the selection is very large. The charging infrastructure is also important for the spread of electric cars, and in Denmark, for example, it is extensively developed with lightning chargers.
New technology
In recent years, electric car technology has also developed significantly, so that the cars have a longer range and the possibility of faster charging.
– I am currently sitting at a press conference about the new version of the electric car from BYD, which – when it was introduced on the market had a charging speed (kW) of 82. Today it is up to 220, which means that you can charge it ultra quickly from 10 to 80 percent in 25 minutes. It is useful. The capacity of the battery has also increased – although not quite as much – but from 60 to 75 kW, which ensures a longer range.
According to Torben Arent, however, cold is still a negative factor in electric cars. Because even though the new electric cars are equipped with battery heating and heat pumps, there is still a large heat loss, which means that the cars typically run 40 percent below the norm in temperatures below freezing.
Works stably – also in winter
At Deres Auto in Nuuk, sales director Palle Frederiksen says that it is true that electric cars are affected by cold, typically in the form of reduced range and slightly longer charging times.
– But based on our experience, the cars work stably in daily use also in winter.
In addition, Palle Frederiksen points out that the newer models have become significantly better at handling cold, i.a. with heat pump and battery preheating.
– So in short: yes, cold affects – but we don’t experience that the batteries “don’t work”, says Palle Frederiksen.
