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Comment by mattlutze | Hacker News Reader

It's a bit shocking, as Sweden is one of Tesla's most mature and highest-density markets in Europe.

Yes, but there are only 10M people there (and only 25M people in the nordic countries).

To put it in perspective, the total number of Teslas sold over the entire history of Tesla in all of the Nordic countries is less than half of how many Teslas were sold in the US in 2023 alone.

One factor that could be a thing in the next few years is the R&D on EVs, green mining, and rare mineral deposits found in Northern Sweden. Sweden now has the largest despot of materials used in EV batteries in Europe and is leading in green mining to be able to access those minerals while meeting climate targets. These materials are expensive and hard to transport - Tesla could use this as an opportunity to set up some R&D there and get access to the materials logistics to bring them to Germany, etc. Which I'm sure has crossed their minds. But if they fight the unions and storm off they're not going to be winning any bids for that extra stuff.

Countries like Sweden have form on using their natural resources to build vast state funds which are then used to improve conditions yet further, creating a virtuous cycle of opportunity and innovation in the process. Norway did this very successfully with oil money. There's no reason to think Sweden wouldn't go this way with their rare minerals.

While the rest of the world looks on in envy, wondering why it is seemingly so impossible to replicate elsewhere.

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