EVision chairman Hugh Edeleanu had been hoping for some Kent MPs to add some weight to the launch of the new all-electric Jaguar I-PACE.

But on Wednesday, as the revolutionary Jaguar arrived in Kent for the first time, they were nowhere to be seen.

"Two MPs called off because they have to go to the House of Commons because of Brexit," said Mr Edeleanu, speaking at the electric car hire depot on the Medway City Estate in Strood. "I did tell them this is far more important but they didn't seem to agree."

That was meant as a joke but in years to come how will history judge the importance of Brexit in comparison with climate change and the technological advancements needed to combat it?

If he was jesting about Brexit, Mr Edeleanu wasn't joking about the significance of electric car technology.

"We're excited about the Jaguar I-PACE and we're excited about electric cars in general," he added. "I'm sure people all those years ago thought steam engines were the future and then along came the internal combustion engine and it took over.

"All the time battery technology is improving."

"Cars are only the beginning of electric vehicles. Very soon thereafter there will be vans - your white van man going into London will be driving an electric vehicle. All the van manufacturers have got plans for electric vans, and following on after that electric trucks so lorries on the road in years to come will be electric but that does need quite a quantum step in terms of battery technology and energy density."

With the number of public charging points standing at 15,000 and counting, Mr Edeleanu said those buying electric cars would find it ever easier to make long-distance journeys.

That's if they can afford the car in the first place. The new Jaguar model will set you back £60,000 - and that's with a government grant knocking £3,500 off the price.

Nevertheless, electric cars are becoming increasingly affordable, and the high performance Jaguar - and others like it - represent a big step forward in a field that is likely to change the world for the better.

The I-PACE's battery has a range of range of 292 miles and the car can accelerate from 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds - figures which would have shocked the electric car industry just a few years ago.

Not that there's any chance of getting off the Medway City Estate at that speed - but that, as they say, is another story.