Texas to bill EV drivers $200 starting 9/1
- Thread starter AZjeff
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Too much. I understand implementing a fee but $200/year flat is not fair to people who don't drive much. The fee should be varied based on vehicle type (pure EV 1.0, hybrid 0.5, for example) as well as curb weight and mileage. This $200/year fee is just a screw you to EV owners. The people with $100K EVs can afford it but it'll hurt people like myself that bought a used car to save money on gas. Here in California registration is insanely high anyway, I imagine in Texas registration is overall cheaper, but I just don't think fixed fees are the right solution. We have modern technology and pretty much all insurance cos require periodic odometer readings (Esurance made me send dated pics 30 days apart to update my annual mileage). Heck my 2015 Volt has OnStar and the mobile app shows total mileage and EV mileage and sends me a monthly email showing my EV vs gas usage so the data is already there just need to share with it with the DMV. 2014 and older Volts don't connect to OnStar anymore but for vehicles like that they could just use a mobile app that can read the numbers or have a drive-thru line at the DMV where they just plug an OBD2 thingy, could do about one car per minute per lane, easy enough... And come on, you can't even go far enough in a Leaf new, let alone used with a worn out battery, to offset $200 worth of gas taxes.
Some interesting takes on what’s fair. The EV tax credit seems to be fair. The inflated prices per KWh that solar panel owners get seem to be fair. The HOV lanes for hybrids and EVs were all fair.
But an extra registration fee isn’t fair.
But an extra registration fee isn’t fair.
I believe it was $100 here for the Tesla. I think it was $75 for hybrids if I remember what a guy I work with said it cost for his wife's Camry. $200 does seem high though.
To get a low mileage discount on our registration/basic insurance the owner presents a dated photo of the vehicle odometer. That mileage is recorded on the registration. Would be easy enough to do with EVs and use the annual mileage to calculate a fair road tax.
BTW I don't have any objection to paying a fair share of road tax.
My vehicle does not qualify for HOV lanes. I rent and don't have solar and pay retail power price. I didn't get the new EV tax credit but may be able to get the $4K used EV tax credit, we shall see. So yes a $200/year fee is unfair.
What some consider unfair is the $200 is not equivalent to that paid by ICE drivers. I'm all for a fair and equivalent contribution, based on miles driven, but not some capricious amount pulled from some legislator's anatomy.
Fair doesn’t even enter the equation.
Most areas are using an EV fee to justify taxing economy cars and hybrids which is constitutionally illegal. (Equal protections ban taxing a car based on its transmission or fuel economy)
These vehicles don’t use an alternative fuel and thus cannot legally be taxed on a feigned difference like fuel economy.
As for EVs I have a decade of paying around $200 a year on fuel for the old stick shift, in what world should a more efficient vehicle pay more on taxes than I do on fuel?
Lots of people who have an older EV don’t drive many miles and thus shouldn’t be spending much on taxes.
Worse i pay about $30/month of municipal substation taxes.
Nationwide everyones share of municipal substation taxes is $20-$100 a month of these taxes on average, which is more than gas taxes.
Even if it’s not on your bill your electric company pays them for you.
I think there are already enough taxes and registration taxes are extremely inefficient with about half being lost to legal/overhead.
My view is that annual registration for private citizens is extremely wasteful and should be eliminated, you buy your plate once and it stays with you forever until you eliminate the car.
If .gov is worried about roads do exactly what they have always done and take it out of the general funds, then it can be distributed in a truly fair way based on each individual’s ability to pay. It wouldn’t be regressive, you wouldn’t be choosing vehicular winners and losers and you would save billions of dollars of wasted money on legal/enforcement/billing/employees that pertain to the DMV.
Collecting more taxes does not equate to road funding so eliminate the excuses so they can be held to budget. Considering under 50% of road funding comes from gas taxes this would be no change
if roads are a priority they have to budget for them, instead they don’t and make the road funding red herring as an excuse, give them more money they still won’t fix roads.
It’s not a lack of tax issue, it’s a lack of willpower/accountability issue
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KY charges $120 a year for electric and $60 a year for hybrid. Not too crazy but somewhat discouraging to buy these vehicles. Makes up for the gas taxes that everyone else pays. Is it really being used for roads though.
Your irrational hate is showing. Come on now...
Scott Fitzgerald was on record as saying everyone in the states owes $10,000 a year to fix infrastructure.
As I said earlier be careful what you wish for, because they will come for you too.
New or used
You also pay more taxes when you first buy an EV (on average)
States that charge residuals or personal property tax can potentially get a lot more taxes on EV.
Then there is the massive increase in insurance for most people in most areas.
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EVs were never about making the private transportation more affordable, perhaps most of you will start understanding this.
For years EV owners were boasting how much cheaper the EVs are and that everyone should own one. The true purpose of the EV scheme is starting to unfold now. More fees and more control. All leading to subscription type services most likely.
For years EV owners were boasting how much cheaper the EVs are and that everyone should own one. The true purpose of the EV scheme is starting to unfold now. More fees and more control. All leading to subscription type services most likely.
Ermmm...most of the stuff people are being charged subscriptions for have nothing to do with the engine or motor in the vehicle. Also, yes, owning an EV costs me way less than owning an equivalent gasser. The closest performance analogy for me is the AMG GLC63S. Setting aside even its initial purchase, can you fathom the PM and fuel cost of driving it 30k miles per year!?
There is no fair. Never was; never will be. What do they want? Blood? Oops, I'd better not give them any ideas... I'll stop now.
12000 miles at 50 mpg = 240 gallons of gas avoided, 28.5 cents a gallon gas tax = $68.40 a year to replace the gas tax. I agree, pretty fair. Now how do we adequately bill people with plug in hybrids when they're running off gasoline, because that's double billing.
What are you talking about? Nobody controls my off grid solar cabin but myself.
AZjeff
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So after 5 pages there’s no equitable way for states to collect for EV road use. The problem is home charging isn’t it? Charging a tax at public charging stations can’t be harder than taxing gas.
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