The tax incentives for low-emissions vehicles are nice, but the financial incentive we really need to speed the adoption of electric vehicles is a cap and trade on the registration of liquid fuel only vehicles. This, of course, assumes that there is a reasonable amount of recharging infrastructure in place and a few different commercial alternatives. However, once these things are in place, the electric vehicle tax credit may not be incentive enough for people to make the switch.
That is where a cap and trade plan could help, like the one being proposed for CO2 emissions for manufacturing plants. The government could mandate that each state cap the number of vehicle registrations allowed for cars that have:
- Gasoline engine only
- Hybrid engine
- Plug-in hybrid
- All-electric engine
It would be a graduated scale with the number of permits decreasing every year for the gas-powered end of the spectrum, and getting more expensive down at that end of the spectrum, as well. This would make sure that the American consumer doesn’t greet the establishment of an electric vehicle charging grid with a collective yawn.
