Just a few years after the UK adopted one of the most aggressive zero-emission agendas, with plans to phase out the sale of gas- and diesel-powered passenger cars and vans by the year 2030, the country’s leadership is walking back this target.

In a speech addressing the Net Zero initiative, which aims to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by the year 2050 through a series of steps spanning several industries, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak revealed that the government would be pushing back the phase-out of gas and diesel-powered vehicles from 2030 to 2035. “We seem to have defaulted to an approach which will impose unacceptable costs on hard-pressed British families,” Sunak said. “Costs that no one was ever told about, and which may not actually be necessary to deliver the emissions reduction that we need.”

Sunak announced a number of other initiatives that would still pursue the overarching goal of the Net Zero initiative, but ultimately framed the delay of the 2030 target as placing a high burden on businesses and families. “But I also think that at least for now, it should be you the consumer that makes that choice, not government forcing you to do it,” Sunak added. “Because the upfront cost is still high—especially for families struggling with the cost of living.”

The unexpected delay of the previously announced target—which was controversial even when it was adopted three years ago—was met with criticism from some in the automotive industry over the sudden change of plans, after automakers had made substantial investments to meet the earlier 2030 target and have introduced more ZEV models.

The concern from the auto industry’s perspective, of course, is that a new pushback of the target by five years would make EVs less attractive to consumers in the present, knowing that they can delay an ZEV vehicle purchase. Those who may have been thinking of buying an EV in 2025 or 2026 might now be dissuaded from doing so until well after 2030.

Another concern raised by the auto industry involves a decline in government support for EV infrastructure by cities and towns across the country, just as automakers ready more EV-intensive lineups which are currently in the pipeline or are in the process of being rolled out.

“Manufacturers will continue to put innovative new models on the market but consumers need encouragement to buy more than ever,” said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), one of the largest industry associations in the UK. “Today’s announcement must be backed up with a package of attractive incentives and measures to accelerate charging infrastructure to give consumers the confidence to switch. Carrots move markets faster than sticks.”

In walking back the 2030 target, Sunak hinted at the uneven pace of charging infrastructure growth across the country, an issue not confined solely to the UK. As in the US, rural regions of the country have seen a slower pace of infrastructure growth in the UK. “We’re aligning our approach with countries like Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, Canada, Sweden, and US states such as California, New York, and Massachusetts and still ahead of the rest of America and other countries like New Zealand,” Sunak added, referencing the disparate initiatives by a number of US states.

Concerns over grid readiness, as well as the geographic inequalities of EV adoption, are becoming more prominent in the UK, even as the issue of EV costs to consumers remains a hot topic.

Some industry observers have suspected Sunak’s announcement of a 2030 pushback as reflecting the very real possibility that the country’s energy grid and the demands on it may not be ready to support the increase in EV usage, especially when energy costs have drastically increased in UK and elsewhere in Europe in the past few years.

The prime minister’s speech addressed the issue of EV energy demands only briefly, without painting a complete picture of what energy costs and challenges ZEV only-sales by 2030 could bring about. “We’re investing billions in new energy projects, yet we don’t have the grid infrastructure to bring that power to households and businesses,” Sunak said. “Right now, it can take 14 years to build new grid infrastructure,” he added.

Sunak also indicated that the UK would not abandon North Sea oil and gas extraction, citing concerns to UK’s energy security in the midst of a war in Europe.