In the Netherlands, government is actually incentivising people who drive a lot to buy diesel cars, but not those who drive only a little, and that is going on

In the Netherlands, government is actually incentivising people who drive a lot to buy diesel cars, but not those who drive only a little, and that is going on for quite a while already. Here is how it's done: - Diesel fuel is considerably cheaper at the pump [0], plus diesel cars have better per-liter mileage. Thus per-mile expense for a diesel car is roughly 1/2 of that for a benzine car. - Diesel car is roughly twice as expensive in yearly road tax (EUR 1580 / year for a 1500kg diesel car vs. EUR 808 / year for a 1500kg bezine car in Amsterdam) [1], plus a diesel car would typically be slightly heavier. Thus per-year expense is much higher for diesel. Two observations above combine in a well-known locally rule of thumb - if you drive >20000km/year, buy a diesel; otherwise you're better off with a benzine car. This matches perfectly with the inherent technical requirement for a diesel car to be driven mostly in long trips to be efficient or relatively clean. [0] http://www.anwb.nl/vakantie/reisvoorbereiding/brandstofprijzen-europa http://www.anwb.nl/vakantie/reisvoorbereiding/brandstofprijz... [1] http://www.belastingdienst.nl/rekenhulpen/motorrijtuigenbelasting/ http://www.belastingdienst.nl/rekenhulpen/motorrijtuigenbela...