(Budstikka): On Monday 6 May, all the electric cars were thrown out of the public transport zone. There is now plenty of space for buses, taxis, motorbikes and emergency vehicles in the public transport lane on the E18 from Asker towards Oslo.
But also for hydrogen car owners, such as Margrethe Wam Solvang. People with hydrogen cars can still use public transport in the future – and can also sit completely alone in the car, at all times of the day.
Luck smiles during the day for the 46-year-old from Bærum, who saves a lot of time in the morning.
– I smile and wave to the police who are carrying out checks. They smile and wave back, says a proud and happy hydrogen car owner, Margrethe Wam Solvang, who lives in Haslum.
It was in 2016 that she opted out of fossil and electric cars, and fully invested in what she believes is the way to a greener car fleet; the hydrogen car. Solvang himself has been involved in the board of the hydrogen car association in 2017.
This is her second hydrogen car.
141 cars
Today she drives a Hyundai Nexo, which she has had since 2019.
– If more consumers had invested in hydrogen cars, then we would have seen a positive effect on the climate and the environment, and the politicians would have opened their eyes to good incentives for operating filling stations.
Solvang is one of 141 owners in Norway.
The Information Council for Road Traffic sits on the overview of all hydrogen cars in Norway.
– Out of a population of just over 2.8 million passenger cars, there are 141 hydrogen cars in Norway as of today (2024), informs Mikkel Friis in the Road Traffic Information Council.
72 of them are Toyota cars and 69 cars are from the Hyundai car brand.
– Interest in hydrogen cars can change
Boss Thomas Rosvold in Hyundai Norway says that so far they have not noticed any growing interest in hydrogen cars, but he believes that a change may occur.
– There is a possibility that it could change if the challenges on E18 persist, he tells Budstikka.
Hyundai Norway has had hydrogen cars in its product portfolio for a long time.
– At the same time, it has been challenging to market hydrogen cars with a lack of infrastructure and unwillingness to invest in hydrogen as an alternative for passenger transport on the part of the authorities.
