Newington's Matt Sheldon examines the Government's Air Quality Plan.

The Government’s announcement last week of a new Air Quality Plan celebrated the end of a long U-turn in policy with a neat piece of political acrobatics. Having lost a battle with green groups to delay the publication of a new plan to tackle air pollution, the Environment Secretary Michael Gove managed to grab headlines – and green plaudits – simply by confirming existing policy.

Following on from the Electric Vehicle Bill announced in last month’s Queen’s Speech, this new plan was nonetheless held up by some as a landmark moment. It reaffirmed the government’s commitment to reverse the UK’s once heavily-promoted switch to diesel, and by 2040 phase out the sale of ‘conventionally’ fuelled cars altogether, in favour of electric (and other low-carbon) vehicles – which currently make up just 4% of new car sales in the UK.

Beyond bringing together a package of previously-announced measures to promote low-carbon public transport and promote the roll-out of electric vehicles, the strategy promised new powers for local authorities to tackle pollution – with £300m for a clean air fund to support new projects. Under the  plan, local authorities have until next year to produce local plans to reduce road traffic pollution, to be reinforced by a UK wide ‘clean air strategy’ in 2018.

This shift in the focus of action to local government reflects the activism of devolved authorities, particularly in London, where Sadiq Khan has accelerated plans to introduce a new Ultra-Low Emissions Zone, and other City Regions in England – as well as the lack of appetite from central government to take forward complex legislation.

It has, however, generated significant criticism from UK automotive manufactures, who have argued that without a clear transition regime or a programme to boost the nascent electric and hybrid vehicle market in the UK, new restrictions and an arbitrary end date on the sales of petrol and diesel cars will undermine an industry that supports close to 800,000 British jobs.

In this context, increasing attention will now be paid by the industry to the government’s much-vaunted Industrial Strategy – to see what further measures (to support UK R&D in new battery and vehicle technologies, for example) will be introduced.

For the moment, though, beyond the twists and turns of government policy, major announcements from carmakers over the last month – with Volvo and BMW-Mini the latest to publicise large-scale investment in electric vehicles – underline the major shifts underway in the vehicle market. The filling pump may well have had its day.