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Gas prices have soared to record levels over the last year as higher global demand has been intensified in Europe.

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LISBON, Portugal — The U.K. should embark on a “vaccination-style” effort to address surging energy prices and prevent future energy crises from happening, according to the boss of gas and electricity supplier Ovo Energy.

The average U.K. household faces paying a £2,500 ($2,900) annual bill for the next two years, up from £1,400 in October 2021. That’s even after a cap on consumer energy bills was imposed by the government in early September.

Ovo CEO Raman Bhatia called for action of a similar scale to that of the country’s rollout of Covid vaccines, an initiative core to its lockdown exit strategy.

“There needs to be a very active intervention, vaccination-style,” Bhatia said onstage at the Web Summit tech conference, in a fireside chat moderated by CNBC.

In Europe, a combination of cold weather, oil and gas shortages stemming from Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and a resulting surge in prices has threatened to upend lives and businesses.

The crisis has its roots in the Covid pandemic as the reopening of economies led to a sudden energy demand surge. Already, people are struggling to pay their energy bills, while some have refused to pay.

In the U.K., the government sought to alleviate pressure on households and businesses with its rebate program which gives people a £400 discount on their energy bills. The program is due to expire in April 2023.

Bhatia said he expects the grants to be continued beyond that deadline, and added that further support is needed “to include the squeezed middle, who are facing a debt crisis for the first time” in the face of rising interest rates.

“What we as a sector expect [and] what I would expect is some sort of support to continue beyond April so that we don’t end up with a cliff edge,” he said.

Between July 2021 and May 2022, 29 U.K. energy suppliers — including Bulb, once the seventh-biggest — have collapsed. Ovo had warned before the arrival of government support that it may not be able to meet its lending commitments this year.

After a deal to acquire the retail arm of Scottish firm SSE Energy, Ovo became the second-largest supplier of energy to households in the U.K.

Insulate Britain

Bhatia called for further support for retail energy customers in the U.K., as well as a national drive on insulating homes.

“We have the draftiest, leakiest homes in Europe,” Bhatia said.

His comments echo calls from Insulate Britain, a recently launched protest group, to ensure homes are insulated to be low energy by 2030.

Bhatia said that 75% of homes in the U.K. are inefficient as they don’t meet insulation standards.

“We have to go on a drive to insulate every single home so that, come next winter, we are in a much better place,” Bhatia added.

Energy industry executives have warned that, as difficult as the coming winter may be for consumers, it’s really the winter of 2023 people should be worried about.

‘Energy transition is real’

The crisis has exposed Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels, particularly gas from Russia.

Bhatia said that highlights the importance of transitioning to renewable energy.

“I think energy transition is real. And the near term costs of energy transition have gone up. But the long term opportunity has become even more pressing and urgent,” he said.

There are ways individuals can improve their energy efficiency, he added, including installing smart meters and air source heat pumps and using apps to measure and control power consumption.

“I think everyone needs to play a part,” he said.

Countries are under pressure to come up with solutions to the climate crisis at the COP27 summit in Egypt this week.

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Tesla now offers discounted financing on Cybertruck as the truck turns out to be a flop

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March 6, 2025

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Tesla now offers discounted financing on Cybertruck as the truck turns out to be a flop

Tesla has started to offer discounted financing on Cybertruck as the electric pickup truck undoubtedly turns out to be a flop.

Tesla claimed over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck, and CEO Elon Musk said he could see Tesla producing 500,000 units per year.

However, that was before Tesla announced that the production version would be much more expensive and have a shorter range than what was initially announced.

The Cybertruck has now been in production for a year and a half, and it looks like Tesla would be lucky to sell about 10% of Musk’s goal of 500,000 units.

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The automaker doesn’t report Cybertruck sales, but it is estimated that Tesla delivered roughly 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024, and it is expected to have even more issues selling the truck this year.

Tesla has taken several steps to help sales.

We reported that Tesla launched Cybertruck leases to help move vehicles. The company is even still tucked with “Foundations Series” Cybertrucks, and we found out that Tesla buffed “Foundations Series” badges out of some trucks to sell them as cheaper regular Cybertrucks.

For the remaining “Foundations Series,” which there still are despite Tesla switching to regular Cybertruck production in October, Tesla has even offered free Supercharging for life.

Now, Tesla is stepping up its game, and it is offering discounted financing on new Cybertruck orders:

Tesla announced 1.99% APR for a limited time:

1.99% APR available for a limited time for well-qualified buyers

WIthout the “promotion”, the rate for excellent credit is 5.84%.

While Tesla is discounting the rates, it is not discounting them as much as for new Model 3 orders.

We reported earlier this week that Tesla offers 0% and 0.99% with $0 down on new Model 3 orders in the US until the end of the quarter.

Electrek’s Take

It is very possible that Tesla can’t sell more than 10,000 Cybertrucks this quarter, which would extrapolate to 40,000 units per year or less than 10% of what Elon said he would see Tesla delivering.

Now, the cheaper single motor Cybertruck should help, but by how much? It could bring Tesla to 20-30% of the volume Elon saw possible?

I think it’s fairly clear that the Cybertruck is a flop.

Tesla launched a single new vehicle in the last 5 years and it is a flop.

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Toyota launched its cheapest EV in China and it crashed the server starting at just $15,000

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March 6, 2025

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Toyota launched its cheapest EV in China and it crashed the server starting at just ,000

Toyota-cheapest-EV-China

Toyota looks to grab a bigger share of the world’s largest EV market as it takes aim at BYD and other low-cost leaders. On Thursday, Toyota launched its cheapest EV in China, the bZ3X, starting at roughly $15,000. The new electric SUV crashed the server with over 10,000 orders in an hour.

Meet Toyota’s cheapest EV in China, the bZ3X

The bz3X is Toyota’s “first 100,000 yuan-level pure electric SUV” in China and its cheapest EV to hit the market so far.

Toyota’s Chinese joint venture, GAC-Toyota officially launched the “Bozhi 3X,” or bZ3X for short, in China on March 6. Shortly after, the company said orders for its new electric SUV were “so popular that the server crashed” after revealing prices start at just over $15,000 (109,800 yuan).

After securing over 10,000 orders in just one hour, Toyota boasted again that “the server is overwhelmed.” The launch comes after blind pre-orders opened in December, starting at just under $14,000 (100,000 yuan).

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The bZ3X is available in two versions, with or without its full-scenario smart driving tech. The non-smart tech model starts at 109,800 yuan ($15,000) with five trim options while the smart driving model starts at 149,800 yuan ($20,500).

Toyota-cheapest-EV-China-bZ3X
Toyota launches its cheapest EV in China, the bZ3X (Source: GAC-Toyota)

For 159,800 yuan ($22,000), the range-topping “610 Max” trim provides up to 610 km (379 miles) CLTC range from a 67.92 kWh LFP battery. The base “430 Air” gets up to 430 km (267 miles) from a 50.03 kWh LFP battery pack.

Toyota said the interior provides “a mobile space that is comfortable as home,” with front and rear seats that can fold down to provide nearly 10 feet (3 meters) of space.

Inside, the electric SUV has a 14.6″ infotainment screen with voice recognition and an 8.8″ driver display. It also includes a two-spoke multi-function steering wheel.

Toyota’s new bZ3X is its first vehicle with the Momenta 5.0 Intelligent Driving System. Powered by NVIDIA Drive AGX Orin X, it comes with 25 ADAS features, such as parallel parking, remote control parking, high-speed pilot, light traffic assist, and blind spot monitoring.

Toyota-bZ3X-SUV-pre-orders
Toyota-bZ3X-SUV-pre-orders

GAC-Toyota claimed it will be “one of the first automakers in the world to realize a one-stage end-to-end intelligent driving model.” With human-like intelligence, the vehicle “gets smarter and better with use.”

At 4,600 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,645 mm tall, Toyota’s cheapest EV in China is about the size of BYD’s Yuan Plus (Atto 3) at 4,455 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,615 mm tall. Starting at 115,800 yuan ($16,000), Toyota’s new bZ3X slightly undercuts BYD’s electric SUV.

What do you think of Toyota’s new electric SUV? Would you buy one for around $15,000? We’ll keep dreaming.

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New cars from Volvo, VW, Cadillac, and more – plus 0% on Model 3 as Tesla sales fall

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March 6, 2025

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New cars from Volvo, VW, Cadillac, and more – plus 0% on Model 3 as Tesla sales fall

It’s been a big day for big reveals with the all-new Volvo ES90, a new compact electric city car from Volkswagen, plus a pair of new, over-the-top EVs from General Motors that perfectly exemplify American excess. All this and maybe the dawn of the long-awaited “Tesla Killer” on today’s revealing episode of Quick Charge!

GM is practically daring the competition to build a bigger, badder EV with a new, bigger $133,000 Cadillac Escalade and 1,100 hp off-road special in the form of the new Chevrolet Silverado EV ZR2. Finally, you guys are never happy … try to enjoy this episode, anyway!

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

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