My experience is ULEZ meant I had to change a perfectly good 2013 reg new diesel car I bought because the govt were incentivising buying diesel with low car tax because it was better for the environment. (My old 1999 Petrol car had died and couldn’t be revived so had to buy another car in 2013)
Luckily when ULEZ was expanded to my area in 2021, I could afford to trade in my diesel car and buy a used approved 2017 Petrol model that was ULEZ compliant. There are lots of people who can’t afford to change cars as the trade-in value is pretty low on cars that are not ULEZ compliant.
What I wasn’t aware of is that apparently all the electronics on a lot of cars these days (parking sensors, electric seats, mirrors, aircon etc) means if you walk more and drive the car less in order to protect the environment, or if you don’t drive it at all for 3 weeks while on holiday, you end up with a flat battery. The RAC jumpstart it and tell me I have to drive it for a continuous 45 min to 1 hour drive without turning off the engine every day for the next 3 days. RAC also said the manufacturer says I have to drive it once a week for a continuous 1hr drive to keep the battery from getting flat. Apparently short journeys take more out of the battery. During Covid lockdowns and when LTNs were introduced my battery went flat a few times. Electric cars are plugged in at home to get charged overnight so don’t have this issue.