Cars should talk to Roads
Basically. the reason we are driving ourselves to death is because there aren’t any incentives not to. So we remove barriers to ownership of cars, while charging based on usage. People would drive less, the roads would be paid for by the users of them and cars would naturally become more efficient.
What if the road and the car were intimately linked? What if the car negotiated with the road to determine how much your trip was going to cost based on carbon usage? What if, given this new economic model, the car cost was amortized based on how much you drove (the road pays the car manufacturer too)?
one could argue that jurisdictions with tire taxes are achieving this. Drive more, wear out tires quicker, pay more tax. Not on the same scale as what you’re talking about, but definitely a road / fuel consumption tax.
No carbon footprint if the vehicles are virtual, solar powered, and fly. Call me!