SIR - The Government has been urged by the Green Alliance (GA) think-tank to bring forward its 2040 ban on new diesel and petrol car sales by a decade-to 2030-as this would not only halve oil imports but also close the gap in the UK's climate change targets. The GA also said this more ambitious deadline would mean Britain wouldn't squander its leadership on electric cars. The number of electric cars sold in the UK has increased greatly over the last four years but, in 2017, Germany overtook us in the registration of new plug-in hybrids and 100 per cent battery-powered cars.

Bringing forward the ban on combustion engine models would not only boost sales of electrified cars but would also raise the prospect of the UK becoming a net vehicle exporter, according to the GA. In 2016, a fifth of electric cars sold in Europe were made at Nissan's Sunderland plant. BMW has pledged to make its electric Mini at its plant in Oxford but UK-headquartered Jaguar Land Rover has chosen to build its first electric car in Austria. Dustin Benson, GA's policy director said, "...if we keep building and buying dirty cars, we'll miss the growth opportunity of the century."

David Hornsby, West View Avenue, Wrose