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This is a decent idea, but no idea how you would enforce it. I actually have a silly, massive 4x4, but live outside of the UK and only really use it for applications where it's needed (away from metaled roads). It is the most basic interior you could possibly imagine, and there is no way anybody would ever consider getting one as a fashion accessory. There are several models out there that only come in this 'basic' version to appeal to farmers etc. It guzzles fuel, has high emissions and is a little fragile due to age, so I really try to not use it unless I really have to. We have a little car for 95% of driving.
It really annoys me how many people are buying Raptors/Land Cruisers/Wranglers/FJs when they just don't go off road at all/very rarely. The problem is that they are all so comfortable now with all features you would find on regular cars, and the driving position somehow gives people more confidence when driving. If you could only buy a basic version with no leather/luxury interior etc, I'm sure people would reconsider. I visited the UK for the first time in a while at Christmas, and was shocked at how many 'proper' SUVs (Jeeps/pickups etc) there were on the roads. A bizarre trend.
Maybe ramping up fuel/emissions/carbon tax is the way to deal with it.
keepit-
Maybe ramping up fuel/emissions/carbon tax is the way to deal with it.
If you can afford one of these monster trucks you can afford the piddly token tax hike the government MIGHT implement. Fuel duty has been frozen for, what, 12 years now? So it's clear the government want no part in upping the price of fuel, even as the world burns.
hippy
Or - a bit like with EV grants - have a max price at which the tax break falls off. That way the more rudimentary models which are still very useful to farmers etc still qualify, but the likes of the Ranger Raptor deservedly lose out.