(Photo : Photo by Eduardo Munoz - Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 22: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a thumb up after addressing the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly on September 22, 2021 in New York City. More than 100 heads of state or government are attending the session in person, although the size of delegations are smaller due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The United Kingdom continues to struggle amid a growing gas shortage that has left many residents looking for answers elsewhere as the number of searches on Google for electric cars has jumped by 1,600% on Sept. 24, which is the day when the problem became nationwide.
Carguide.co.uk, a used car information website, found that UK residents searched for electric cars 16 times more than the average daily numbers. More and more people in the region are registering electric cars, with August having 7,338 new registrations of electric vehicles.
Gas Shortage in the UK
Experts believe the trend will continue as the UK federal government will ban new gas cars starting from 2030. The recent shortage of gas in the country is most likely going to speed up the process and force residents to transition to electric vehicles much sooner.
The primary reason for the gas shortage is not a lack of supply for the gas itself, but a shortage of truck drivers caused by the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit. The Road Haulage Association, which is a trade association of road transport operators, estimated that there was a shortage of about 100,000 drivers in Britain. They revealed that about 20% of the total were those who left the region after it voted to leave the European Union, Electrek reported.
The situation has forced many drivers in the region to rush to gas stations and fill up their vehicles and storage. Gas stations are filled with long queues despite rising fuel prices, which are the latest struggles the country is facing as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
The majority of truck drivers are elderly and younger applicants are having a difficult time getting licensed due to the health crisis. Transport companies continue to struggle to retain drivers despite raising their salaries by 25% or more this year alone.
The situation has also become problematic for restaurants due to a lack of supply of food as well as grocery stores, which are struggling to refill their shelves. Residents in the region have started panic-buying recently after hearing about the growing problem with gas, the New York Times reported.
Addressing the Situation
The situation has forced Prime Minister Johnson to address the issue and reassure residents that his government was making preparation to provide enough supply. He said that the situation at gas stations was slowly improving despite many regions seeing hundreds of forecourts still closed and motorists lining up for hours to buy fuel.
During a televised address, Johnson said that industries in the region were starting to get their supplies back onto the forecourt. He also reassured residents that they are safe to go about their normal lives without having to worry about the gas shortage.
The statements were Johnson's first comments regarding the gas shortage controversy since the end of last week when oil companies reported difficulty in transporting products, leading to the current situation. However, opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer has accused the prime minister and his government of lurching from "crisis to crisis," Reuters reported.
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