The 1983 UK General Election saw the Labour Party manifesto dubbed the longest suicide note in history. The current policy for decarbonising transport in the UK and Europe may be the most complex one. For the policy to work, it is necessary simultaneously to switch the grid to green sources and fundamentally change the relationship between consumers and their cars, in order to balance that new grid. Both are a major challenge, and if either fails, the whole policy fails. If it does go off plan, we may well end up with undesirable cars being powered by a dirty grid, and an unresolved climate change problem. Are industry and government locked in a suicide pact?
