10. Supercharge electric cars

Norway

Rapidly electrifying cars is non-negotiable for net zero: transport is the biggest source of UK emissions, and roads do 91 per cent of the damage. Johnson vowed to end petrol car sales in 2030 (and hybrids in 2035), but there is a chasm between promise and delivery—which Norway shows how to close.

Despite recent growth, plug-in cars (which includes some hybrids) are projected to account for only a quarter of 2022 UK new car sales. Pure electric models will constitute just a sixth. Amid tales of nightmare journeys, the government concedes that the “slow” rollout of charging points is “not at a pace consistent with what is needed to deliver a wholly zero emission new car fleet by 2035.” As for the “old car fleet,” replacement feels hopelessly remote.

But it needn’t take forever, if—to borrow from Eric Lonergan and Corinne Sawers’s Super-Charge Me— you “supercharge” the transition. Plug-in vehicles still stubbornly cost more than conventional cars in Britain—even before ministers axed their £1,500 grant in June. But in Norway, tax tweaks had already made an electric VW Golf cheaper than a petrol model by 2020. With the higher upfront cost in Britain, the typical £600 annual saving in running costs is simply not enough. Oslo, by contrast, pulled every lever, halving parking charges and road tolls for plug-in vehicles.

The upshot? New sales are over 90 per cent electric, allowing the new Labour-led government to safely trim subsidies and focus them on mass-market, rather than luxury, vehicles. Attention can now turn to other accelerated transitions. Getting cars right is just the start of the journey.