The policies you're advocating for exist already. European and Europeanized-country car taxes I know of (Danish, Israeli) do indeed apply at time of purchase -

The policies you're advocating for exist already. European and Europeanized-country car taxes I know of (Danish, Israeli) do indeed apply at time of purchase - and are altered based on vehicle type. For example, Israeli car purchase taxes are 83% plus VAT, but only 30% for emissions-free vehicles; Denmark, meanwhile, has car registration taxes set at around 100% for cheap cars and 150% for more expensive cars, and varies the tax wildly to promote environmental efficiency and safety (originally EVs were completely exempt from this tax, although there's been talk about eliminating that exemption for budgetary reasons). This burden is indeed not specific to new cars, but that's necessary to incentivize faster EOL of old equipment (see also the US "cash for clunkers" program, which addressed a similar policy goal); it is, though, completely upfront and extremely transparent to the consumer, and strongly impacts consumer investment decisions.