I'm old but not so old that I don't remember growing up in the 60's and 70's before the Clean Air Act. Grew up just south of Los Angeles. Many days we couldn't go out for recess when I was in elementary school in the 60's. Walking the mile to Junior and Senior high. Moving into the 3rd floor dorm in the early 70's meant a 20 minute "rest stop" in the room after each trip up so our lungs would stop burning.
As to the thread topic, I drive my Prius Prime maybe 4K miles a year, my wife drives her Leaf about 21K a year. Her prior car was a 2006 Prius averaging 40+ MPG in the winter, 50+ in the summer, full tank. Figure 450 gallons of gas a year.
Guess which one of us is retired
My driving is 425 mile round trip on the interstate twice a year, 55 MPG. All other travel is local (< 25 miles round trip) or to the larger city (60 miles round trip). Non interstate travel, 65 to 70 MPG and that is after the EV range is exhausted. I use maybe 50 gallons of gas a year.
A flat $200 tax on my car would be $0.05/mile, more than doubling the current cost/mile. The same $200 on the Leaf would be $0.01/mile