US transportation bill would add a $130 annual fee for EV drivers

amykhar

It kind of makes sense because gasoline taxes help fund road projects. Of course, if you live in a state like Pennsylvania, there's not much evidence of real improvements to the pothole infested roads.

kha1n3vol3

They should simply place the fee on tires. Then it is a consumable tied to usage rather than trying to match the fee to estimate of mileage.

thelastgallon

This is not enough. To undo the damage done by previous years sales of EVs, perhaps add a minimum 7500 (upto 100000 depending on price of car) federal sales tax on car manufacturers without dealerships and/or who sell more than 200K EVs per annum. This disincentive is absolutely necessary to undo the damage done by these eyesores on American roads.

thelastgallon

Legislators are forgetting that they can charge a federal tax at charging stations, 18.4 cents/watt or something like that.

m463

tax what you want less of...

JumpCrisscross

> if state departments of transport don’t collect this federal EV tax, the federal government will “withhold an amount equal to 125 percent of the amount owed from the state’s highway apportionment.” Ah, I see the game plan. Republicans pass this. Democrats then stiff red states in some particular way, maybe by taxing the ethanol content of gasoline.

iugtmkbdfil834

Just a reminder to folks everywhere. Never say to new taxes. After all, last time I checked, roads were supposed to be taken care of by gas tax ( which is extra hilarious, because Trump administration was trying to figure out how to waive it for now ).

ivraatiems

It's fair to say that EV owners need to pay their share of road taxes. I don't think even most EV owners would necessarily disapprove of that in principle; I am one and I don't at all. I do think that this bill is clearly structured to disincentivize EV purchases at a time when transitioning to EVs is an extremely good ideas for both the public and the climate. There are a ton of other ways to go about this that would be less punitive: A one-time fee at purchase. A tax on public charging. A tax on charger purchase for home use, or on electricity at homes which have chargers installed. I think the goal here is to get people not to buy EVs. Also - and maybe this is a shortcoming of the reporting in the article, not the legislation - I have questions. How is this going to be collected? Is the IRS going to ask if you own an EV and then assess a tax? Are states going to do it? Who's going to pay for the process of figuring out who owns which EVs and how much to tax them? Is there a grandfather period for existing EVs or are we taxing all EVs going forward? Are we taxing them retroactively, too? (By the way, the "Albert Gore" quoted in the article, despite their similar names and political interests, appears to be no relation to the former Vice President of the United States. That's a fun coincidence.)

watersb

Tax everyone based on annual miles * weight of the vehicle.