Should Electric Car Owners Pay A Special Usage Fee?
Tim Esterdahl | Feb 27, 2012 | Comments 3
Drivers have received a lot of incentives to make the switch to electric, but the free ride may come to an end soon. The problem lies in the way that most states and local municipalities raise funds for transit projects. Every time you fill your gas tank, a certain percentage of that sale goes directly to state or local coffers. The move speaks to the need of creating more fairness between different vehicle owners.
Electric vehicle owners might have to pay a new tax to help pay for the infrastructure they use. Will this new tax level the playing ground between different types of vehicle owners?
The reasoning behind that type of funding method is that drivers use the infrastructure, so they fund it directly with every gas or diesel purchase. The problem is that purely electric vehicles don’t use gas, so every new electric car or truck on the road represents an overall reduction in the funds available to road maintenance and construction.
A number of states, including Washington, Arizona and Oregon, have attempted to levy some type of replacement tax on electric vehicles. In Washington, that replacement tax would have taken the form of a yearly $100 fee. Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, released a press statement indicating that this fee would allow drivers of electric vehicles to pay for their fair share of road maintenance.
Opponents to this type of legislation have pointed out that a flat fee wouldn’t be fair either. The existing gas tax is based on use, and drivers who use the roads a lot end up paying more than people who leave their vehicles parked. A flat fee would charge both types of drivers the exact same amount. Some opponents have suggested an alternative fee that is based on mileage.
There are relatively few electric vehicles on the road at the point, so the issue has not yet gained a lot of legislative traction. Of the few states that have actually introduced bills, none of them have successfully instituted new fees. That will probably change when state budgets start feeling the pinch of reduced gas tax revenues, but it is not clear when that will happen.
What do you think, is it fair or excess legislation?
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Filed Under: Auto News
So punish the smart people for buying electric cars. Total B/S. What do they think state tax does? I live in florida which has no state tax but when you buy things the tax is in that. I work in Georgia and use 5 miles of road to the base. Paid over $900 in tax just to use that 5 miles of road. They have more than enough to fund infrastructure. Keep the money out of politicians hands then you have what you need instead of these pet projects these politicians believe in.
Owners of electric cars in Washington state don’t buy gasoline or pay gas taxes, but they’re soon going to be hit with a $100 fee to own the battery-operated cars.
Rightly or wrongly, hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs) are taking some blame by state legislators for decreasing fuel tax revenues. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy “estimates that state and local gas-tax revenue fell 7 percent to $38 billion between 2004 and 2013.”