Vehicle Efficiency Incentives

A vehicle fuel efficiency incentive seeks to internalize the costs or benefits of a vehicle's fuel economy in order to influence consumer purchasing preference.

Phase I of the Rhode Island Greenhouse Gas Action Plan identified incentives in the form of fees and rebates related to vehicle fuel efficiency as a top priority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Popularly termed "feebates" such policy instruments provide incentives for the purchase of more fuel efficient vehicles. Under such a program consumers are required to pay a fee for the purchase of any vehicle that is below a target fuel efficiency and are rewarded for the purchase of a vehicle with a fuel efficiency rating above the target. The target can be changed over time to embody the goals and to reflect the impacts of the incentive program and can be designed to be revenue neutral or revenue generating.

This website details an analysis conducted on Rhode Island's vehicle fleet which focuses on the fuel efficiency of the 2001 model year. This project is one of the results of Brown University's Fall 2002 Center for Environmental Studies Graduate Seminar.