How Estonia Became the Electric Car Capital of the World

As Merchant describes, there are two key elements of Estonia’s Electric e-Mobility plan (ELMO): the strategic construction of 165 EV fast-charging stations and subsidies that reduce the price of vehicles by half.

"Electric cars still only number in the hundreds in Estonia, but this is a comprehensive and unabashed push to transform a deeply entrenched transportation paradigm: This is how a nation paves the way for electric cars, if it’s so inclined," says Merchant.

"It’s still not a perfect plan if the aim is to reduce carbon emissions, as officials claim—Estonia is one of the few countries in the world that still gets its electricity from oil shale, a high-carbon energy source if there ever was one. Still, the EV infrastructure will remain in place as the nation transitions to cleaner sources."