How to tax EVs

Why should they be taxed they are already charging you a tax on the electricity you buy!
Oh and they tax you when you buy it!
 
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Well, my friend's Harleys ain't exactly light...

Neither is my buddies.

Here's me on his and him on mine....

I love all motorcycles, like red heads, blondes, brunettes, or nowadays grey hairs...

IMG_6257.webp
 
Why should they be taxed they are already charging you a tax on the electricity you buy!
Tax on electricity doesn't fund federal or state roads.

It pays for the power company executives poor decision making that burned whole forests and cities to the ground.
 
How would one dispute what they believe to unjustified deductions from their token? If I'm forced to use a system which by design does not allow me to hold anyone accountable for the bill I (in effect) receive, I'm going to have a problem with that.

With a prepaid system, there is no bill. You just have a card or a tag with a serial number, and when that tag goes through a tollbooth, a toll is deducted from that serial number's balance, and the gate opens. It's not tied to your identity, and nobody is sending you a bill because nobody knows who "you" are.

Traditionally you have to choose between anonymity and ownership. You can't normally have both. The only reason I proposed a prepaid system is that it would eliminate the objection of privacy from tolls, because it's basically as anonymous as cash but has the benefit of being able to be scanned at high speed. It's the closest thing to paying cash. You get the anonymity of cash, but you get technology like being able to remotely scan it, link it to your phone wallet, replace a damaged but still readable card, etc. But just like cash, if somebody steals your tag, they can use it. Just like with cash, if you drop it in a storm grate or your wife tosses it out with your book collection, you are just out of luck. But like cash, it's the next-easiest way to have payment, besides cash to achieve anonymity. The best way to limit your risk is just don't put a big balance on your tag. Like when I go to Japan, I don't put $500 on my Suika card, in case I drop it down a storm drain or something. I put like $50 at a time on it.

Technically, there is a 3rd path, and it should be possible to come up with a system that allows billing, allows you to revoke credentials when/if somebody steals it, allows only yourself to use it, etc. and does all that without identifying you personally.... it's technically possible to do that but it involves fancy, crytpo-currency-like cryptography protocols that allow you to prove your ownership without identifying yourself.

In the real world, we will never get a system like that. Most people won't understand it. We will either get a non-anonymous system like used in TX, where you have a toll account tied to your identity and you own your account, like any other utility bill. Or if people demand privacy we might get prepaid anonymous payment system like one of the many that are already deployed around the country and world.
 
New Jersey charges electric cars owners an extra $250 a year, on top of their registration fee. That fee goes up an extra $10 a year every year. I don't think they charge hybrid cars that fee because they do use gasoline, and pay tax on that fuel.,,
 
From this thread I learned that a whole lot of states already have EV-specific annual taxes. I had no idea. At this point that looks like the solution we are going to get...the one we basically already have. Not surprising since it was the path of least administrative resistance...just forget about a use tax and fold it into the annual registration cost. I only wish they would transition ICE to the same system for fairness and consistency. Or at least have the annual cost go by weight/size.
 
With a prepaid system, there is no bill. You just have a card or a tag with a serial number, and when that tag goes through a tollbooth, a toll is deducted from that serial number's balance, and the gate opens. It's not tied to your identity, and nobody is sending you a bill because nobody knows who "you" are.

Traditionally you have to choose between anonymity and ownership. You can't normally have both. The only reason I proposed a prepaid system is that it would eliminate the objection of privacy from tolls, because it's basically as anonymous as cash but has the benefit of being able to be scanned at high speed. It's the closest thing to paying cash. You get the anonymity of cash, but you get technology like being able to remotely scan it, link it to your phone wallet, replace a damaged but still readable card, etc. But just like cash, if somebody steals your tag, they can use it. Just like with cash, if you drop it in a storm grate or your wife tosses it out with your book collection, you are just out of luck. But like cash, it's the next-easiest way to have payment, besides cash to achieve anonymity. The best way to limit your risk is just don't put a big balance on your tag. Like when I go to Japan, I don't put $500 on my Suika card, in case I drop it down a storm drain or something. I put like $50 at a time on it.

Technically, there is a 3rd path, and it should be possible to come up with a system that allows billing, allows you to revoke credentials when/if somebody steals it, allows only yourself to use it, etc. and does all that without identifying you personally.... it's technically possible to do that but it involves fancy, crytpo-currency-like cryptography protocols that allow you to prove your ownership without identifying yourself.

In the real world, we will never get a system like that. Most people won't understand it. We will either get a non-anonymous system like used in TX, where you have a toll account tied to your identity and you own your account, like any other utility bill. Or if people demand privacy we might get prepaid anonymous payment system like one of the many that are already deployed around the country and world.

toll booths or prepaid - Paid on what?

Miles driven or weight damage to roads?

A highway systems isn't a subway systems if you want to use old fashioned money you need to stop the vehicle and interact with the paystation- millions of toll booths aren't going to work. Full scanning would work but you are back to tracking citizens.
 
Since it would be tied to the VIN and owner that wouldn't be hard to do.

It's already there, the regulatory bodies already know what weight these are.

Thing is if we're serious about weight - like we claim we are here 1/2 and 3/4 tons are going to deservedly get big bills along with the EV's.

The goose should be equal to the gander on the scale.
 
Simple enough to charge based upon the EPA inertia weight class of the vehicle and miles operated by the odometer.
No invasions of privacy nor restrictions on movement.
No gas tax, no EV or HEV tax, a simple charge based upon weight and use at each registration renewal.
What we should have been doing all along.
 
Simple enough to charge based upon the EPA inertia weight class of the vehicle and miles operated by the odometer.
No invasions of privacy nor restrictions on movement.
No gas tax, no EV or HEV tax, a simple charge based upon weight and use at each registration renewal.
What we should have been doing all along.
We could just mandate that auto manufacturers collect the tax.

"Enter credit card information to enable vehicle operation."

"Thank you. With taxes and fees, your trip will cost $79.16. For an additional $20 dollars we can enable the entertainment system and climate controls. Would you like to upgrade?"
 
Simple enough to charge based upon the EPA inertia weight class of the vehicle and miles operated by the odometer.
No invasions of privacy nor restrictions on movement.
No gas tax, no EV or HEV tax, a simple charge based upon weight and use at each registration renewal.
What we should have been doing all along.

It's forced movement.

Every registration renewal would require an in person visit to an authority for mileage verification. There would need to be absolute guarantees of in person service at the renewal checkpoint.

Imagine owning multiple cars having to make multiple in person appointments with a DMV like entity. It's nightmarish to even think about.

In a bill after consumption model what if the person just says "sorry I cant afford to pay for what I already used" ? What does the governing body do impound the car- now you need a whole different kind setup for that.
 
We could just mandate that auto manufacturers collect the tax.

"Enter credit card information to enable vehicle operation."

"Thank you. With taxes and fees, your trip will cost $79.16. For an additional $20 dollars we can enable the entertainment system and climate controls. Would you like to upgrade?"
Nothing that intrusive or that complicated.
At registration renewal, a DMV/BMV employee would simply record your current odometer reading and you'd be charged based upon the difference between current and last.
Easy, fair and totally private, since nobody would know where you'd gone or what you did there.
Interstate use of the vehicle?
It would all wash out over the hundreds of millions of motor vehicles out here.
 
The federal government should get out of the road business.

States can do what they want. Registration by state. Toll roads. Tax out of staters for all of it and locals pay nothing. That last one has my vote.
 
It's forced movement.

Every registration renewal would require an in person visit to an authority for mileage verification. There would need to be absolute guarantees of in person service at the renewal checkpoint.

Imagine owning multiple cars having to make multiple in person appointments with a DMV like entity. It's nightmarish to even think about.

In a bill after consumption model what if the person just says "sorry I cant afford to pay for what I already used" ? What does the governing body do impound the car- now you need a whole different kind setup for that.
Not that big of a deal for most drivers.
Would the car get impounded?
Of course not, you simply couldn't renew the registration so you could no longer legally operate it after expiration.
You pay what you owe or you don't drive, simple and fair to all owners of all types of vehicles.
 
Nothing that intrusive or that complicated.
At registration renewal, a DMV/BMV employee would simply record your current odometer reading and you'd be charged based upon the difference between current and last.
Easy, fair and totally private, since nobody would know where you'd gone or what you did there.
Interstate use of the vehicle?
It would all wash out over the hundreds of millions of motor vehicles out here.
I was being kinda absurd in purpose.
 
Not that big of a deal for most drivers.
Would the car get impounded?
Of course not, you simply couldn't renew the registration so you could no longer legally operate it after expiration.
You pay what you owe or you don't drive, simple and fair to all owners of all types of vehicles.

Your reply is about HOW you pay, but what is it you propose to pay on?

Is that fee based on mileage or weight?

Not sure you sir I can speak for anyone else on what is or not a big deal.
I've never found regular inspections with government entities to be repeatedly reliable or performed expeditiously. Ive been told on more than one instance to come back a an alternate time even though I had an appointment scheduled I was 100+ miles away from that station.

If you drive a legal car into an inspection station and it becomes illegal to drive during the inspection technically it should never leave.
 
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Your reply is about HOW you pay, but what is it you propose to pay on?

Is that fee based on mileage or weight?

Not sure you sir I can speak for anyone else on what is or not a big deal.
I've never found regular inspections with government entities to be repeatedly reliable or performed expeditiously. Ive been told on more than one instance to come back a an alter time even though I had an appointment scheduled.

If you drive a legal car into an inspection station and it becomes illegal to drive during the inspection technically it should never leave.
Just put you mileage input online and pay.

You can’t sell the vehicle until the mileage is evened up.

Seems like it would be self policing?
 
You get it.
I've already written that weight would be a part of the equation, along with miles driven.
Your idea would make it totally self-enforcing.
 
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