Bridges liked the carrot side of the scenario (pay less for electric cars) but not the stick (pay more for grunty cars).
So he picked it up and started waving it in the general direction of the Government.
National has now sent out about 10 different posts focusing on the "car tax."
In doing so, it has been playing Snap! with the Australian Liberal Party's attacks on Labor's proposal for emissions charges on cars.
Both National and the Liberals' ads have used Labour red and some Labour branding for the ads.
Both produced hit lists of common cars and how much more they would cost.
Then there is National's use of the tagline "New Zealanders can't afford this Government" - a line hauled out for fuel tax increases, cost of living increases such as rent, and the car tax.
It is close – albeit much less snappy – to the Liberal Party's campaign line of Labor's Bill Shorten. That was "The Bill Australia can't afford."
That is, of course, no coincidence.
Bridges visited Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week and was open about the reasons why: Morrison's victory in the Australian election.
ScoMo's campaign was an inspiration for Bridges and he has made it clear he expects to emulate it.
Morrison's campaign was more like an Opposition campaign. It focused on attacking his rival's policies more than promoting his own. And it worked a treat.
The past two weeks have been something of a test run for Bridges to try the same as he embarks on his bid to galvanise the "quiet New Zealanders."
It helps that one of Morrison's social media whizzes was one of Bridges' staffers and she has now returned to Bridges.
In fact, Morrison's campaign had also used some of the techniques former PM Sir Bill English deployed, such as a lengthy "getting to know Bill" video.
There is nothing subtle or clever about such campaigns.
But that is the point – they are a blunt, obvious tool and can be very effective.
National reports its social media posts have had a reach of about one million people.
Bridges needs the election to be fought on hip pocket issues rather than personality or leadership.
The Minister of Transport document sets out some compelling reasons to try to force change in New Zealand's vehicle fleet.
What Bridges is banking on is that most voters will not read the 44-page report.
He is targeting tradies, farmers and families. He is targeting those for whom a car of a few thousand is already a stretch and who may resent subsidising those who can afford even the cheapest Tesla: price tag $74,000.
Bridges has learned the hard way to make the most of his moments before Ardern takes them away.
As with the capital gains tax, the levy is still simply a proposal up for consultation.
Labour has made a tentative effort to rebut National, issuing a similar table showing the cars that will be cheaper.
This made Bridges' day since it turned out some were the very same cars the Government was proposing to ban because of their low safety ratings.
But otherwise, Ardern has largely left it to Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter – a Green MP – to defend the proposals.
It makes the Greens look good to their voters to put such a proposal up. And it makes NZ First look good to theirs when they get it whacked back.
Of course, levies on cars are not the only thing taxpayers are paying for in this battle.
They are also paying for the National Party posts criticising those levies.
Those posts are produced in-house but the costs of "boosting" them on social media were funded out of Bridges' Parliamentary funds.
