  Constant-torsion emergent gravity (CTEG) has a Lagrangian quadratic in
curvature and torsion, but without any Einstein--Hilbert term. CTEG is
motivated by a unitary, power-counting renormalisable particle spectrum. The
timelike axial torsion adopts a vacuum expectation value, and the Friedmann
cosmology emerges dynamically on this torsion condensate. We show that this
mechanism -- and the whole background cosmology of CTEG -- may be understood
through the effective potential of a canonical single scalar field model. The
effective potential allows for hilltop inflation in the early Universe. In the
late Universe, the Hubble friction overdamps the final quadratic approach to
the effective minimum at the condensate, where the value of the potential
becomes the cosmological constant. We do not consider particle production
through spin-torsion coupling, or running of Lagrangian parameters. The model
must be completed if reheating and a separation of inflationary and dark energy
scales are to be understood. It is suggested that the divergence of the
potential at large values of the scalar is inconsistent with the linearised
propagator analysis of CTEG around zero-torsion Minkowski spacetime. This
background may therefore be a strongly coupled surface in CTEG.
