Britain’s ‘petrol panic’ could force car-reliant doctors to live in hotels

Published

4 years ago

September 30, 2021

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Cardiologists carry out a procedure on a patient at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England, on March 17, 2021.

Joe Giddens | PA Images | Getty Images

Doctors and healthcare workers in the U.K. could be put up in hotels to ensure they can get to work, as Britain’s gasoline crisis continues.

British motorists have been panic buying fuel over the last week, as a major shortage of truck drivers disrupted deliveries of gasoline and other goods across the country. The situation prompted calls for doctors and other key workers to be given priority access to fuel earlier this week.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers — a membership organization for healthcare services within Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) — told CNBC in an email that workers were struggling to fuel their vehicles and get to work, despite government ministers reassuring the public that supply is beginning to stabilize.

“This is a particular issue for NHS staff who deliver services in the community and to remote wards,” she said Thursday. “Trusts will be working with national NHS teams and with their local partners to ensure any disruption to patients is minimized, including through changes to working patterns for community staff and through accommodation in local hotels if needed.”

NHS hospitals and some other health services in England are governed by more than 200 geographically designated trusts, which are run by boards of directors.

“Trust leaders are telling us that fuel supplies for ambulances are not being disrupted. But reports that non-emergency patient transport services are experiencing issues accessing fuel, and the knock-on effects this could have for vulnerable patients, is concerning,” Cordery added.

Meanwhile, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation — a membership organization for the healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — called on the government to encourage people not to panic buy fuel, which he said could potentially disrupt patient services.

“The NHS has a range of contingency measures it can enact locally if there are problems with its staff getting into hospital, most typically when there is very bad weather,” Taylor said via email on Thursday.

“However, many health and care workers across the country rely on their cars to get to work, so this situation, if not handled appropriately by the government, still has the potential to affect the delivery of vital services to some of our most vulnerable people in society.”

U.K. government ministers have, in recent days, taken some steps to attempt to mitigate the impact of the gasoline shortages, which have left swathes of gas stations around the country out of fuel. Those moves include temporary visas for truck drivers, suspending competition laws for the fuel industry and even mobilizing the army to carry out fuel deliveries.

The government has also urged people to buy fuel as normal, claiming that the situation is now beginning to stabilize.

The NHS Confederation’s Taylor told CNBC on Thursday that before the fuel crisis, two-thirds of its members had already said understaffing was putting patient care and safety at risk — and this fuel crisis could add to some of the strains brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Any disruption caused by the ‘petrol panic’ could make this worse, as well as affect the delivery of vital supplies,” he said. “As the NHS gears up for what is expected to be a very busy winter, this situation is incredibly worrying.”

Throughout the pandemic, NHS services built up a huge backlog of patients waiting to be seen by specialists or receive treatment, as lockdowns, isolating healthcare workers and doctors transferring to Covid wards interrupted normal operations.

Earlier this month, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that his government would be hiking taxes from April to give the NHS additional funding to help it work through the waiting list build-up.

Environment

Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup may be all but dead

Published

2 hours ago

November 6, 2025

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Ford's electric F-150 Lightning pickup may be all but dead

America’s best-selling electric pickup may be headed for the chopping block. According to sources, Ford is now considering killing off the F-150 Lightning.

Is Ford canceling the F-150 Lightning electric pickup?

After Ford halted production of the electric pickup at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, earlier this year, it may never return to the assembly line.

Ford announced during its third-quarter earnings that F-150 Lightning production would remain paused after a fire at Novelis’ plant in New York disrupted aluminum supply.

The company said it would focus on gas and hybrid trucks, which are more profitable and require less aluminum.

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According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Ford’s electric pickup may be as good as dead. Citing sources close to the matter, the WSJ report claims Ford is now considering scrapping the F-150 Lightning altogether.

The move comes after Ford’s electric vehicle business, Model e, lost another $1.4 billion in Q3. Ford’s EV unit has now lost $3.6 billion through the first nine months of 2025.

Ford-F-150-Lightning-production — Ford F-150 Lightning production at Rouge EV plant (Source: Ford)

Around $3 billion of the loss is due to its current EVs, such as the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E. The other $600 million is for investments in next-gen electric models.

Ford is shifting to smaller, more affordable electric cars with its Universal EV platform. The flexible, low-cost platform is key to unlocking more affordable EVs, which will start at around $30,000.

The first vehicle on the platform is expected to be a midsize electric pickup, similar in size to the Ford Maverick or Ranger. It’s set to roll out sometime in 2027.

CEO Jim Farley said during the company’s Q3 earnings call that $30,000 EVs are “not a distant plan,” adding they are “right around the corner” at Ford.

The F-150 Lightning is still America’s best-selling electric pickup, after Ford sold a record 10,000+ in Q3. Through October, Ford sold 24,577 F-150 Lightnings, slightly less than the 24,670 sold during the same period in 2024.

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Environment

Stellantis’ Chinese EV brand gets 590 hp worth of German tuner cred

Published

2 hours ago

November 6, 2025

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Tariffs? What Tariffs? Leapmotor Teams With German Tuner Irmscher For A Sharper, Sportier i C10 EV

In the spirit of SEMA week, Stellantis’ Chinese EV brand Leapmotor is getting some tuner cred from the German performance experts at Irmscher, delivering a 590 hp compact EV that should play well in both the Asian and European street scenes.

European regulators may be slapping heavier tariffs on Chinese EVs in an attempt to slow them down, but automakers like Stellantis-owned Leapmotor finding new ways to build momentum. The latest proof of that is a new, limited-edition Leapmotor i C10 SUV that was developed in and for the Chinese market, but that’s had its edge sharpened up for European roads through a partnership with German tuner Irmscher.

It’s another clear signal that Chinese brands are ready to play the long game in Europe, and they’re doing it by appealing directly to the continent’s performance heritage and partnering with known and respected brands.

The first results of what is being called a long-term partnership is the Leapmotor i C10 by Irmscher, a limited run, 250 unit sports crossover built for the German market — and, with nearly six hundred hp on tap, the German autobahn, too!

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The Irmscher version of the i C10 features a more prominent rear spoiler and a new set of five-spoke alloy wheels wrapped in low-profile, high-performance rubber, sure, but the real magic lies beneath the car’s skin.

Irmscher has fitted a firmer suspension setup specifically engineered to sharpen the SUV’s handling, making it more suited to the Leapmotor’s already potent, dual-motor AWD powertrain. That powertrain remains largely unchanged, offering a hefty 590 hp (440 kW) for a zippy 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) sprints in under 4 seconds.

Built to move

The electric motors get power from an 81.9 kWh li-ion battery pack, good for an estimated range of 437 km (272 miles), positioning it as a performance-oriented variant of the standard crossover rather than a long-distance tourer (and, yes, I know what “GT” stands for, I’m just choosing to ignore the baked-in irony).

Priced from €49,900 in Germany (about $57,600 US, as I type this), the Irmscher i C10 commands a €5,000 premium over the standard flagship C10, but the pricing strategy is just as calculated as the Irmscher partnership itself.

By pricing the car well into Mercedes and BMW territory, Stellantis is showing that its Chinese-developed EVs aren’t just competing on cost alone. So, while the tariffs aim to protect the European car brands in their home markets by raising their prices, Leapmotor and Irmscher are betting that European drivers will willingly pay more for a Chinese EV that delivers authentic performance.

Take a look at the photos provided, below, and let us know what you think of Leapmotor’s chances in the comments.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Stellantis; via CarScoops.

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Environment

Good news: Volvo donates L25 Electric wheel loader to Habitat for Humanity

Published

3 hours ago

November 6, 2025

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Good news: Volvo donates L25 Electric wheel loader to Habitat for Humanity

Nors Donates Volvo Electric Wheel Loader to Toronto Habitat for Humanity to Support Sustainable Homebuilding

Canadian heavy equipment dealer Nors and Volvo CE are kicking off the season of giving early, handing over the keys to a brand-new Volvo L25 Electric compact wheel loader to Habitat for Humanity!

Volvo CE’s donation to Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area (Habitat GTA) marks the nonprofit’s first-ever electric construction machine. The asset will be put to work immediately on a 30-home affordable housing project in Brampton as a quiet, zero-emission alternative to diesel for the site’s preparation.

For the volunteers and staff at Habitat GTA, that fantasy of a quiet, fume-free job site is now a reality. “Much of our equipment is older than some of our volunteers” admitted Ene Underwood, CEO of Habitat GTA. This makes the electric Volvo loader a massive leap forward for the volunteers, proving that electric machines are ready to do real work right now, even for organizations operating on tight budgets — but you shouldn’t mistake the decision as pure charity.

The L25 Electric donation is just an opening salvo for Nors’ new “Compact Solutions, Community Impact” marketing campaign, and the company has already committed to donating two more Volvo CE electric machines to worthy organizations across Canada. “We’re … helping build a better world for future generations,” said Paul George of Nors.

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It’s a smart PR play, for sure, but it’s also a powerful, real-world demonstration program that puts its money where its mouth is and directly tackles the, “but I’ve never seen one!” barrier to battery electric equipment adoption.

As far as equipment goes, the Volvo L25 Electric is perfect for the infill development and residential lots where Habitat builds. As Agako Nouch of Volvo CE pointed out, the loader eliminates the noise and air quality issues that are major headaches when building in existing neighborhoods. It’s an example of how electrification can fundamentally improve the relationship between construction sites and the communities they serve.

Nors is inviting Canadians to nominate other nonprofits or municipalities that could benefit from an electric excavator or wheel loader. It’s a public consultation, not a contest, and the final two recipients will be announced on December 16th. It’s a genuine chance to put more electric iron to work where it can do the most good.