U.S. official says Russia ‘took advantage’ of Europe’s energy crisis

Published

4 years ago

November 12, 2021

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Russia did not cause Europe’s energy crisis — but it didn’t help, and instead tried to benefit from the situation, according to Amos Hochstein, the U.S. State Department’s senior advisor for global energy security.

“It sure didn’t do anything that it could to alleviate [the energy crunch], and in fact, took advantage of it,” Hochstein told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Wednesday.

Russia chose not to send additional natural gas supplies to Europe for November despite saying it is ready to help, auction results in October showed.

Gas prices in Europe hit record highs in October on the back of surging demand, lower than usual inventories and limited supply.

Russia started pumping less gas to Europe in August, and some analysts suggested that the country was limiting its discretionary supply to support the case for the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will bypass Ukraine and Poland to carry gas from Russia to Germany.

The pipeline is awaiting approval from German regulators, but has faced opposition for various reasons, including concerns that Nord Stream 2 is not in line with Europe’s climate goals.

On the geopolitical front, Washington fears that Nord Stream 2 will give Moscow too much power over Europe’s gas supplies. In 2020, around 43% of Europe’s gas imports came from Russia.

Meanwhile, Kyiv is afraid that Russia will bypass Ukraine and take gas revenue away.

Energy as a weapon?

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday told reporters that the U.S. is watching “very carefully” to see if Russia is using energy as a political tool.

“Should Russia attempt to use energy as a weapon or commit further aggressive acts against Ukraine, we are committed and Germany is committed to taking appropriate action,” he said.

Hochstein said Moscow has come close to weaponizing energy.

“They’ve come very close to the line of using it as a weapon by suggesting that if a political decision was taken in Germany … to certify the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, all of a sudden, gas would appear, and there would be plenty of gas from Russia for Europe,” Hochstein said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected claims that his country is weaponizing energy against Europe.

“Even during the hardest parts of the Cold War Russia regularly has fulfilled its contractual obligations and supplies gas to Europe,” Putin told CNBC in October.

Hochstein said references to contractual amounts are an “excuse” because those levels should be the “floor, not a ceiling” in terms of appropriate energy supply.

The fact that prices went up to historic highs means that there’s demand that’s not being met, and producers should bring on supply “above and beyond” contractual obligations to bring prices down, he said.

He added that Russia, as an energy supplier, has a responsibility to increase supply to help importers sustain normal economic activity so that GDP growth will not be affected by high oil or gas prices.

Russia cannot claim to be a “reliable supplier” but stick to delivering contractual levels only, he said.

They have not broken any laws, Hochstein acknowledged. But he said it seems that Moscow’s energy policy has been to “never let a good crisis go to waste.”

“Unfortunately, I think that that’s how they’ve been behaving,” he said.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith, Holly Ellyatt, Chloe Taylor, Silvia Amaro contributed to this report.

Environment

Tesla tops 36 car Autopilot test, affordable Model Y spied, and a $5,000 EV

Published

1 hour ago

July 28, 2025

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Tesla tops 36 car Autopilot test, affordable Model Y spied, and a ,000 EV

Credit where credit is due: in a massive, 32-car multinational independent test, Tesla’s Autopilot ADAS came out on top, the new affordable Tesla turns out to be a corner-cutting Model Y, and one of the company’s original founders compares the Cybertruck to a dumpster. All this and more on today’s episode of Quick Charge!

Today’s episode is brought to you by Retrospec – the makers of sleek, powerful e-bikes and outdoor gear built for everyday adventure! To that end, we’ve got a pair of Retrospec e-bike reviews followed up by a super cute, super affordable new EV from China with nearly 150 miles of range for less than $5,000 USD.

PLUS: listeners can get an extra 10% off by using code ELECTREK10 at retrospec.com!

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Tesla teases new Roadster as ‘the last best driver’s car’

Published

2 hours ago

July 28, 2025

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Tesla teases new Roadster as 'the last best driver's car'

Tesla is again teasing the new Roadster, which is now five years late, as “the last driver’s car” before self-driving takes over.

The chicken or the egg. Is Tesla delaying the Roadster to match the development of self-driving technology, or is it delaying the development of self-driving technology to match the delayed release of the Roadster?

The prototype for the next-generation Tesla Roadster was first unveiled in 2017, and it was initially scheduled to enter production in 2020; however, it has been delayed every year since then.

It was supposed to achieve a range of 620 miles (1,000 km) and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds.

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It has become a sort of running joke, and there are doubts that it will ever come to market despite Tesla’s promise of dozens of free new Roadsters to Tesla owners who participated in its referral program years ago.

Tesla used the promise of free Roadsters to help generate billions of dollars worth of sales, which Tesla owners delivered; however, the automaker never delivered on its part of the agreement.

Furthermore, many people placed deposits ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 to reserve the vehicle, which was initially scheduled to hit the market five years ago.

When unveiling the vehicle, CEO Elon Musk described it as a “halo car” that would deliver a “smack down” to gasoline vehicles.

That was almost eight years ago, and many electric hypercars have since launched and delivered this smackdown.

Tesla has partly blamed the delays on improving the next-gen Roadsters and added features like the “SpaceX package,” which is supposed to include cold air thrusters to enable the vehicle to fly – Musk has hinted.

Many people don’t believe any of it, as Tesla has said that it would launch the new Roadster every year for the last 5 years and never did.

Now, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s head of vehicle engineering, made a rare new comment about the next-generation Roadster during an interview at the X Takeover event, an annual gathering of Elon Musk cultists, last weekend.

He referred to Tesla’s next-gen Roadster as the “last best driver’s car” and said that the automaker did “some cool demos” for Musk last week:

We spent a lot of time in the last few years rethinking what we did, and why we did it, and what would make an awesome and exciting last best driver’s car. We’ve been making it better and better, and it is even a little bit more than a car. We showed Elon some cool demos last week and tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.

The timing matches Musk’s recent claim that Tesla is going to have ‘the most epic demo ever, ’ but we heard that one before.

We suspected that the comment might be about the Tesla Roadster, as the CEO made the exact same comment about Roadster demos in 2019 and 2024. You will not be shocked to hear that these demos never happen.

Electrek’s Take

The “last best driver’s car” before computers are going to drive us everywhere. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy if you continue to delay the car. It might literally be the last car ever made that way. How would we ever know?

The truth is that the Roadster was cool when it was unveiled in 2017, but that was a long time ago. Tesla would need to update the car quite a bit to make it cool in 2025, and I don’t know that cold air clusters are it. You will have extreme limitations using those.

The Roadster is almost entirely in the “put up or shut up” category for me at Tesla. They need to stop talking about it and make it happen; otherwise, I can’t believe a word.

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Environment

Kia’s electric van spotted in the US again, but will it ever launch?

Published

4 hours ago

July 28, 2025

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Kia's electric van spotted in the US again, but will it ever launch?

The PV5 is already available in several markets, but will Kia launch it in the US? After Kia’s electric van was spotted testing in the US again, a US debut could be in the works.

Is Kia’s electric van coming to the US?

Kia launched the PV5, the first dedicated electric van from its new Platform Beyond vehicle (PBV) business, in South Korea and Europe earlier this year, promising it will roll out in “other global markets” in 2026.

Will that include the US? Earlier this year, Kia’s electric van was caught charging at a station in Indiana. Photos and a video sent to Electrek by Alex Nguyen confirmed it was, in fact, the PV5.

Kia has yet to say if it will sell the PV5 in the US, likely due to the Trump Administration’s new auto tariffs. All electric vans, or PBVs, including the PV5, will be built at Kia’s Hwaseong plant in South Korea, which means they will face a stiff 25% tariff as imports.

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Following another sighting, a US debut cannot be ruled out. The PV5 Passenger model was spotted by Automotive Validation Engineer Chris Higa (@Chrisediting) while testing in Arizona.

There’s no denying that’s Kia’s electric van, but it doesn’t necessarily confirm it will launch in the US. But it could make sense.

Despite record first-half sales in the US, Kia’s EV sales have fallen significantly. Sales of the EV9 and EV6 are nearly 50% less than in the first half of 2024.

To be fair, part of it is due to the new model year changeover, but Kia is also doubling down on the US market by boosting local production. Earlier this year, Kia said the EV6 and EV9 are now in full-scale production at its West Point, GA, facility.

The PV5 Passenger (shown above) is available in Europe with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, rated with WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo variant has the same battery options but offers a WLTP range of either 181 miles or 247 miles.

During its PV5 Tech Day event last week, Kia revealed plans for seven PV5 body types, including an Open Bed (similar to a pickup), a Light Camper, and even a luxury “Prime” passenger model.

Kia PV5 tech day (Source: Kia)

Kia is set to begin deliveries of the PV5 Passenger and Cargo Long variants in South Korea next month, followed by Europe and other global markets, starting in Q4 2025. As for a US launch, we will have to wait for the official word from Kia.

Do you want Kia to bring its electric van to the US? Drop us a comment below and let us know your thoughts.

Source: Chris Higa, TheKoreanCarBlog

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