[kreelman]

Perhaps what you say is part of the problem, though usually MPG improves with newer vehichle versions?

Change it over to "Cheap EV for clunkers", the government could/should cover most of the financials and it's a win for the car owner and the environment.

I think it could be argued that it's the government's job to fund things like this. Vision is all that's required!

[frosted-flakes]

A lot of older cars had excellent MPG figures but actually polluted more than current cars, especially diesels. Also, cars have largely gotten bigger and heavier, which hurts efficiency.

[DoingIsLearning]

> Also, cars have largely gotten bigger and heavier

... In the US/Canada. This is for the most part a self-contained cultural problem.

SUVs/trucks numbers are a small percentage of the vehicles on the road elsewhere in the world, mostly because there is no space for them in the road/city infrastructure in most other places.

[frosted-flakes]

Size is only one factor of weight. Safety improvements have also increased weight, even if the car stayed roughly the same size.