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&#x27;s done:<p>- 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&#x2F;2 of that for a benzine car.<p>- Diesel car is roughly twice as expensive in yearly road tax (EUR 1580 &#x2F; year for a 1500kg diesel car vs. EUR 808 &#x2F; 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.<p>Two observations above combine in a well-known locally rule of thumb - if you drive &gt;20000km&#x2F;year, buy a diesel; otherwise you&#x27;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.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.anwb.nl&#x2F;vakantie&#x2F;reisvoorbereiding&#x2F;brandstofprijzen-europa" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.anwb.nl&#x2F;vakantie&#x2F;reisvoorbereiding&#x2F;brandstofprijz...</a><p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.belastingdienst.nl&#x2F;rekenhulpen&#x2F;motorrijtuigenbelasting&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.belastingdienst.nl&#x2F;rekenhulpen&#x2F;motorrijtuigenbela...</a>