nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpq33zh3kg08z33l8hcqfvsclyp8gwkju0fl3jc0eqedtqunqxxdwls2lyuwn the only thing that couldn't easily happen in your story is the return of leaded petrol (in anything other than small aircrafts where it is still used) - it would knacker the catalytic converter in the exhaust of nearly all cars on the road today and have 0 benefits in engine performance.

However its not implausible adoption of EVs stalls (maybe due to the costs of WW3?)  and a return to coal, with low paid /slave labour also being used to harvest plastic waste from landfills to be converted by pyrolysis into "green" petrol/diesel (and if regulations aren't enforced it certainly won't be particularly healthy for frontline workers at the places processing this stuff into fuel, its already happening in Global Majority countries)