Oil CEOs say this winter is not the season to worry about when it comes to the energy crisis
PCK Schwedt oil refinery in Schwedt, Germany on Monday, May 9, 2022.
Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Politicians and governments around the world are bracing for potential civil unrest as many countries grapple with mounting energy costs and rising inflation.
The global economy is facing an onslaught from multiple sides — a war in Europe, and shortages of oil, gas and food, and high inflation, each of which has worsened the next.
Concerns are centered on the coming winter, especially for Europe. Cold weather, combined with an oil and gas shortage stemming from Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, threatens to upend lives and businesses.
But as much concern as there is ahead of this winter, it’s really the winter of 2023 that people should be worried about, major oil and gas executives have warned.
Energy prices “are approaching unaffordability,” with some people already “spending 50% of their disposable income on energy or higher,” BP CEO Bernard Looney told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble during a panel at the Adipec conference in Abu Dhabi.
We are in good shape for this winter. But as we said, the issue is not this winter. It will be the next one, because we are not going to have Russian gas.
Claudio Descalzi
CEO of Eni
But through a combination of high gas storage levels and government spending packages to subsidize people’s bills, Europe may be able to manage the crisis this year.
“I think it has been addressed for this winter,” Looney said. “It’s the next winter I think many of us worry, in Europe, could be even more challenging.”
The CEO of Italian oil and gas giant Eni expressed the same worry.
For this winter, Europe’s gas storage is around 90% full, according to the International Energy Agency, providing some assurance against a major shortage.
But a large proportion of that is made up of Russian gas imported in previous months, as well as gas from other sources that was easier than usual to buy since major importer China was buying less due to its slower economic activity.
“We are in good shape for this winter,” Eni chief Claudio Descalzi said during the same panel. “But as we said, the issue is not this winter. It will be the next one, because we are not going to have Russian gas – 98% [less] next year, maybe nothing.”
Protests have already begun
This could lead to serious social unrest — already, small to medium-sized protests have cropped up around Europe.
Anti-government protests in Germany and Austria in September and in the Czech Republic last week — the latter of which has seen household energy bills surge tenfold — may be a small taste of what’s to come, analysts have warned. Some energy executives agreed.
Yes, there is a real risk that governments without a steady hand on policy shaping in Asia can deal with unrest.
Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik
CEO of Petronas
“We’ve seen that any shocks to the price at the pump, or something as simple as LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] for cooking, can cause unrest,” the CEO of Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas, Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik, said.
He described how a strengthening dollar and rising fuel prices pose a serious risk to many Asian economies – massive populations that are some of the biggest oil and gas importers in the world. And this is happening while subsidies are already in place to help ease prices for citizens.
Inflation in the euro zone remains extremely high. Protestors in Italy used empty shopping trolleys to demonstrate the cost-of-living crisis.
Stefano Montesi – Corbis | Corbis News | Getty Images
Many Asian economies were already reeling from the pandemic, which caused “vast swaths of [small and medium enterprises] in Asia to just collapse,” Taufik said. “So, yes, there is a real risk that governments without a steady hand on policy shaping in Asia can deal with unrest.”
Anger at oil companies’ massive profits
Much of the anger of protesters is also directed at the energy companies, which have been making record profits as bills get higher and higher.
Responding to this, many of the CEOs who spoke to CNBC said it’s an issue of market supply and demand, and that it’s up to governments to implement policies more conducive to energy investment. That investment, they stressed, has taken a hit in recent years as countries push for the transition to renewables.
The world has to face “the practicalities and realities of today and tomorrow,” BP’s Looney said, stressing the need to “invest in hydrocarbons today, because today’s energy system is a hydrocarbon system.”
Many policymakers and institutions still decry the use of fossil fuels, warning the far bigger crisis is that of climate change. In June, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for abandoning fossil fuel finance, and called any new funding for exploration “delusional.”
The oil executives argued that this approach simply isn’t realistic, nor is it an option if countries want economic and political stability.
At the same time, however, they admitted that the energy transition itself does need greater focus and investment in order to avert a larger crisis next year and beyond, when there is no Russian gas in storage and other options are increasingly expensive.
“In Europe, we pay at least six, seven times to [as much as] 15 times the energy costs with respect to the U.S.,” ENI’s Descalzi said.
“So what we have done in Europe, each country, gave incentive subsidies to try to reduce the cost for industry and for citizens. How long that can continue?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s impossible that it can continue forever. All these countries have a very high debt,” he said. “So they have to find a structural way to solve this issue. And the structural way is what we said until now — we have to increase and be faster on the transition. That is true.”
“But,” he added, “we have to understand, from a technical point of view, what is affordable and what is not.”
Coca-Cola’s bottling partners in India are going electric, three wheels at a time. The company just announced a major expansion of its electric delivery fleet, adding thousands of electric three-wheeled vehicles (often called e-rickshaws or electric tuk-tuks) to its logistics operations across the country.
These compact electric vehicles are already a common sight on India’s roads, used for everything from passenger transport to last-mile cargo deliveries. Now Coca-Cola’s bottlers are ramping up their use of these efficient EVs as part of a broader sustainability and welfare initiative dubbed “Vividhta ka Uphaar,” which translates to “a gift of diversity.”
According to the company, the rollout is already underway, with more than 5,000 electric three-wheelers integrated into delivery routes in cities such as Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, and more. The vehicles not only reduce tailpipe emissions but also lower noise pollution and operating costs, making them a win for both the company and the communities they serve.
Coca-Cola joins a growing list of multinational corporations turning to electric tuk-tuks to clean up their delivery fleets in Asia. IKEA has deployed similar electric three-wheelers in India and other Southeast Asian countries as part of its push to achieve zero-emissions deliveries. Amazon and Flipkart have also experimented with three-wheeled EVs to reach urban customers on tight, traffic-clogged streets.
While North America often focuses on four-wheeled electric trucks and vans for commercial use, much of the developing world relies on these nimble three-wheeled workhorses. Affordable, maneuverable, and easy to charge, electric rickshaws are a natural fit for dense cities with hot climates – especially where small businesses and large corporations alike need efficient last-mile solutions.
Electrek’s Take
These types of EVs can’t come soon enough. They use electric drivetrains that are closer in size to an electric bicycle than an electric delivery truck or van (usually 2-4kW motors and 3-5 kWh batteries), yet can carry loads closer in size to those same trucks and vans.
Sure, they can’t carry quite the same tonnage, but they’re often more appropriately sized for the kind of last-mile delivery that so many companies require.
I actually bought an electric tuk-tuk back in 2023 and found it to be the perfect ‘city truck’ for my lifestyle, where I live car-free in a city and my wife and I travel by e-bike and e-motorcycle. For the few times we need to actually haul stuff, an electric tuk-tuk or rickshaw gives truck-like capacity in a smaller and more efficient vehicle. What’s not to like?!
Images via: Coca-Cola
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![Yangwang U9 Xtreme cracks 300 mph to become fastest production car EVER [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/09/Yangwang-U9-Xtreme.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Move over, Bugatti! The new Chinese Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric hypercar just blasted its way to a staggering, 308.4 mph top speed on a German test track, seizing the “world’s fastest car” crown and busting the last traces of the myth that electric cars are slow.
Just weeks after BYD announced that the nearly 3,000 hp, all-electric Yangwang U9 Track Edition model set a new global speed record for electric vehicles after hitting a ridiculous 472.41 km/h (~293 mph), the Yangwang crew returned to Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg GmbH (ATP) test track with the U9 Xtreme with its sights set on a new goal. They didn’t want the world’s fastest EV title – they wanted the world’s fastest production car title. Period.
The BYD Yangwang crew got that record, rocketing all the way to 496.22 km/h – that’s 308.4 mph to you and me!
“This record was only possible because the U9 Xtreme simply has incredible performance,” explains German GT racing driver Marc Basseng, who piloted the Chinese EV on its record-setting run. “Technically, something like this is not possible with a combustion engine. Thanks to the electric motor, the car is quiet, there are no load changes, and that allows me to focus even more on the track.”
The Yangwang U9 features the world’s first mass-produced 1,200V ultra-high-voltage vehicle platform. Developed by BYD, the car is powered by the company’s latest li-ion phosphate batteries in BYD’s now-familiar “blade” configuration.
The U9 Xtreme’s record-setting run dethrones the previous Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which managed 304.8 mph back in 2019. The Bugatti now has to settle for the lesser “world’s fastest combustion-powered production car” title, which is objectively lame.
Definitely NOT lame
The company says it’s selling “no more than 30” of the Xtreme U9 EVs, presumably to customers with incredibly long driveways. The Xtreme version features smaller, 20″ wheels (instead of 21s), and gets wider, 325 mm tires (up from 275 mm) to match the rears. The fronts also ride on a narrower track.
You can watch Marc Messang put the 3,000 hp Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric hypercar to the test in the video, below, then let us know what you think of China’s first-ever world record-setting vehicle in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Fastest production car EVER
SOURCE: CarNewsChina.
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With dual electric motors pumping out 776 hp, over 400 miles of all-electric range, and a relatively low MSRP, the new AUDI E5 Flagship Quattro electric wagon is electrifying the Chinese wagon market – scoring over 10,000 orders in its first thirty minutes on sale!
First launched last fall, the new Audi-backed AUDI sub-brand kept the sexy wagon aesthetic but ditched the Germans’ interlocking rings and Auto Union heritage in favor of a simple, all-caps AUDI logo on the E concept wagon. Now seen in production trim, the production AUDI E5 Sportback is surprisingly true to the original concept – except in the horsepower department, that is.
But, while a production car having lower horsepower figures than the concept car that preceded it is pretty typical, the production AUDI E5 is different: it actually offers more peak power than the 765 hp concept!
That’s right, kids! the range-topping Flagship Quattro version of the new AUDI E5 Sportback offers buyers 776 horsepower (that’s 11 more than the concept), and gets 402 miles (CLTC) of range from its 100 kWh battery. And, while that version is a monster, even the base-level Pioneer version at just 235,900 yuan ($33,000, as I type this) offers a 76 kWh battery pack sending power to a 295 hp rear-mounted electric motor and over 600 km of range (~385 miles).
It’s a solid achievement in value and tech, and the Audi people seem pretty proud of themselves. “The AUDI E5 Sportback is our first model based on the Advanced Digitized Platform, and it delivers on our brand promise: the best of both worlds,” says Fermín Soneira, CEO of the Audi and SAIC Cooperation Project. “Audi’s DNA and engineering excellence is blended with China’s digital ecosystem and innovations, specifically tailored for our tech-savvy customers.”
And it’s pretty.
AUDI E5 Sportback
The wagon’s exterior, while not necessarily shouting “Audi” in the conventional, Western sense, is still proportioned well enough to carry the four rings (or, looked at another way, a VW logo). But, while it’s a great-looking wagon on the outside, it’s on the inside that the all-new E5 AUDI Sportback really sets itself apart.
The interior of the AUDI E5 Sportback is noticeably different from any Audi model, being much more inline with similar entry-luxe EVs sold in China. The E5 dash also sports a 59″-inch” wide screen that stretches across the entire dash, digital side mirrors, Alcantara seating surfaces, and wireless phone chargers.
All that tech is powered by the QUALCOMM Snapdragon 8295 automotive chipset with 5-nanometer precision and the ability to perform 30 billion operations per second, and the Chinese-market AUDI OS offers what its makers call, “an intuitive experience designed to make the vehicle occupants’ lives easier.”
You can take a look at the new E5 Sportback’s interior, below, then let us know whether or not you think an Audi AUDI like this (and its purple mood lighting) would be a hot seller Stateside in the comments.
E5 Sportback interior
SOURCE | IMAGES: AUDI.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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