I couldn't believe the amount of energy these guys used up per year. They had lots of installed water power and it was so cheap per kWh that they were using many more times the total amount as other citizens in Europe. I remember you telling me that Norwegian didn't even isolate their houses against the cold and just turned up the heating.
Due to the sheer scale of hydroelectric installations electricity was cheap. My own house have electric heating cables all over the ground floor, with no unsulation to the ground (that I know of). If I turn them on, they will heat the floors and rooms, but also the part of mother eart beneath my house. You have to remember that during winter our heating and light demands are a fair bit higher than yours and we love hot water! Still no excuse for not insulating houses during the 50s. From the 60s and onward houses are insulated with 10cm in the walls and 20cm in the ceiling. Still, what is used in the private sector is not that much compared to the industry. E.g. melting aluminium with electricity.. It is all changing though as our dear state is building more and more transfer lines to export electricity to Europe. Prices are on a steep rise here now thanks to these lines.
A solar cell will not recharge the batteries in that vehicle during winter. At leat not here. It is frequently "dark" all day and night if the weather is bad. Even with sun there is not more than three to four hours of sun midwinter.
I do think vehicles like that is what we all are going to drive pretty soon.
