UK’s ‘Road to Zero’ needs Govt push

The end of the internal combustion engine is nigh. No-one but the motor industry thinks this dirty technology ought to survive. The refusal to accept reality is exacting a high price: Britain will miss its legally binding carbon emissions targets because transport, unlike all other parts of the economy, is not doing enough to curb the growth in emissions. There is a way out: rapid advances in battery technology mean that electric motors could replace fuel-and-piston ones.

Britons could all whizz about in electricpowered cars, which emit no toxic filth. To its credit, Theresa May’s government has produced a ‘‘Road to Zero’’ strategy which outlines how the UK plans to reach its goal of ending the sales of conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040. Unfortunately, this cut-off date is not only five years later than that recommended by the government’s own advisers but it also stops short of a complete ban on petrol and diesel vehicles.

The pace of innovation is influenced by economic incentives: carrots and sticks must be used to meet social or environmental objectives. Britain ought to take a page out of California’s book and require motor manufacturers to sell a fixed proportion of their overall sales as electric cars. The failure by industry to embrace electric cars ought to underline the fact the state cannot assume the animal spirits of business exist. It must help create them.