Dangerous Transport Forces Tesla to Slow Shipments to Norway

Cars and Drivers

Published: March 25, 2018 8:58 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 2:06 am

A truck hauling new Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) cars to customers in Norway recently was involved in an accident that resulted in two of the company’s Model S sedans to be crushed. The incident has led CEO Elon Musk to call for a slowdown in deliveries to Norwegian customers.

On a per capita basis, Norway is Tesla’s largest market. It’s very success has presented a problem however. According to a report at Electrek, shipments of new cars to the Norwegian port of Drammen have led to capacity issues. To overcome those issues Tesla has been shipping vehicles to the Swedish port of Gothenburg and then moving the vehicles by truck to their destinations.

According to a report at NRK.no (courtesy of Google Translate), five trucks have been turned back at the border “with serious shortcomings,” including one that had bad brakes on both the tractor and the trailer.

One truck that was stopped was an older model of the Euro 3 class, a European classification system for vehicle emissions. Euro 3 was the European standard between 1999 and 2005 and is 10-times more polluting than the current Euro 6 standard.

A Tesla spokesperson in Norway said:

We are working to clean up. The bad cargoes will be removed as soon as we find alternatives. We have asked the Norwegian Trucking Federation to help find other suppliers that have capacity for our volume.

An additional headache for Tesla is that it expected to deliver more than 1,000 cars in Norway this month, ahead of closing its first fiscal quarter of the year. Electrek cited registration data that showed Tesla delivered just over 300 vehicles during January and February.

24/7 Wall St.
How Much Will a Fatal Accident Set Back Self-Driving Cars?

Travel Cards Are Getting Too Good To Ignore (sponsored)

Credit card companies are pulling out all the stops, with the issuers are offering insane travel rewards and perks.

We’re talking huge sign-up bonuses, points on every purchase, and benefits like lounge access, travel credits, and free hotel nights. For travelers, these rewards can add up to thousands of dollars in flights, upgrades, and luxury experiences every year.

It’s like getting paid to travel — and it’s available to qualified borrowers who know where to look.

We’ve rounded up some of the best travel credit cards on the market. Click here to see the list. Don’t miss these offers — they won’t be this good forever.