Any watering down of EV targets, as have been widely discussed, would allow petrol and diesel vehicles on the road for longer, potentially emitting up to 13 per cent more carbon (70Mt) between 2038 and 2042, according to the Green Alliance.

Given the current political turmoil, of course, all bets are off, but the Green Alliance argue that even a slight reduction of ambition can have significant impacts. If effective targets are lowered from their current trajectories so that they grow in an exponential fashion until the same phaseout is reached, UK oil consumption will increase cumulatively by up to 28Mt of petrol and diesel by 2040, it predicts.

The Government, in the face of sluggish uptake and threats to manufacturing and jobs, has already agreed to an early review of the ZEV mandate in 2025 and extended compliance flexibilities for manufacturers to 2029, and is reviewing the mandate again. The Government is finding out the hard way that conflicting priorities can make for difficult decisions.

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