With current electric car technology and costs, the only way governments can force mass adoption is to make internal combustion prohibitively expensive. From Eric Peters at ericpetersautos.com:
Something’s got to give – and will, soon.
Odds are it will be us. Giving more money, that is. Our punishment for not buying an electric car. Or put another way – to make it just as expensive for us to continue driving a non-electric car as it is to buy an electric car.
In order to “level the playing field.” Get ready – it’s coming.
It’ll be done in any of several ways. In China, people are allowed to drive non-electric cars, provided they pay an exorbitant fee – $14,000 – for the privilege. After winning a license plate lottery that allows them to pay the fee.
Winning the lottery can take years. But EVs can be registered immediately . . . and without the punitive fee. You just pay the punitive expense . . . for the EV.
The ever returning ‘idea’ of taxing driving by X$ (yes I know they ‘usually’ say cents but just wait) per mile – with some break for using EVs – is more than ample proof of their intent.