Congress proposes shocking new fee on EVs

[Whammy Bar]

$600 registration fee I just paid should be sufficient as EV penalty to pay for the roads.

Double that for CA....

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[Danface]

Try $1160.00 in The Nation of California. Getting very tired of all the Democrats led taxes. Now the State Assembly has a bill AB1145 being proposed to create a road tax, yes every mile driven you will pay. Don’t pay any attention to the false narrative coming out of the press saying it’s only 2.5 cents per mile. It will be over 9 cents a mile. This will include EVs and gas vehicles. Also there is nothing in the bill to do away with the .56 cents per gallon of gas sold in CA, but they SAY the gas tax will be removed. and I want to sell you a bridge in the desert.

Can I collect all the tolls on the bridge, if so, count me in!

 

[Whammy Bar]

Can I collect all the tolls on the bridge, if so, count me in!

Can we start impounding cars driving for months/years on out of state plates? I bet if everyone actually paid their fair share, the economics would look a whole lot different.

 

[Danface]

Can we start impounding cars driving for months/years on out of state plates? I bet if everyone actually paid their fair share, the economics would look a whole lot different.

I thought the idea is to pay as little as possible but get the most out, yes?

 

[Mach Turtle]

Try $1160.00 in The Nation of California. Getting very tired of all the Democrats led taxes. Now the State Assembly has a bill AB1145 being proposed to create a road tax, yes every mile driven you will pay. Don’t pay any attention to the false narrative coming out of the press saying it’s only 2.5 cents per mile. It will be over 9 cents a mile. This will include EVs and gas vehicles. Also there is nothing in the bill to do away with the .56 cents per gallon of gas sold in CA, but they SAY the gas tax will be removed. and I want to sell you a bridge in the desert.

I was intrigued by this and searched for a California AB1145 and found:
https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1145/2025
It doesn't seem to have a whole lot to do with taxes.

Where is the source from which you got this information?

 

[VTbuckeye]

I don't mind paying my fair share. We have 3 EVs and I already pay extra in Vermont. They call it an EV infrastructure fee of 89 dollars per year. They say the money will be used for charging infrastructure. Combined they drive less than 20k miles per year. If our cars were ice powered vehicles averaging 20mpg we would pay less than 150/year Federal gas tax on our 16k miles.

I don't like a flat fee, but if they are going to have a flat fee they should do away with the gas tax and charge the flat fee for every registered vehicle. If they want to charge based on mileage that is ok with me. Self reporting with huge penalties for falsifying the reports or maybe even an obd dongle that can be plugged in periodically (not continuously).

 

[Tdub]

I was intrigued by this and searched for a California AB1145 and found:
https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1145/2025
It doesn't seem to have a whole lot to do with taxes.

Where is the source from which you got this information?

Sorry I stand corrected. AB1421 is the correct bill. Assemblyman Carl DeMaio leads Reform California and is giving the inside information from the Assembly.

 

[RocketGhost]

Speaking as a retired bureaucrat, collection at the state level would be so much more efficient, let the states keep the whole {FEDERAL} fee but the revenue must be earmarked to state transportation projects.

Yeah my first thought was that there is no current mechanism for the feds to directly collect a fee for registered passenger vehicles. They'd have to partner with each state who would then forward the fee. That's a lot of administrative cost and complexity.

The craziest thing is the gas tax hasn't been adjusted for inflation since 1993. So if this federal fee (or any current state fees) for EVs only is in some way supposed to recoup that cost then it is way overpriced.

My state (TN) added a EV fee, it will be $270 when fully in effect, and is indexed to inflation. However, the state and fed gas taxes are not indexed to inflation. So over time EV owners will be paying MORE than their "fair share."

What TN did was come up with the average MPG of gas vehicles and the average miles driven by a TN driver. They did the math and the fee is set to what the average driver would pay in gas taxes, both state and federal. So it's a "fair share," except for drivers that would otherwise drive a fuel-efficient ICE vehicle or fewer miles than average.

If the fed proposal goes through at least TN EV drivers would effectively be paying the fed gas taxes twice.

 

[Randall Stephens]

I thought the idea is to pay as little as possible but get the most out, yes?

Exactly. “The market will decide the winners and losers.”

Am I doing this right?

 

[Danface]

Exactly. “The market will decide the winners and losers.”

Am I doing this right?

Oh, you got it right ... when you running for office??

 

[Randall Stephens]

Oh, you got it right ... when you running for office??

As a centrist, I’d never make it past a primary in either party.

 

[Danface]

As a centrist, I’d never make it past a primary in either party.

So like you'd compromise on legislation just like all the prior generations of politicos from the begining of our republic? Yeah, you're screwed

 

[Mach Turtle]

Sorry I stand corrected. AB1421 is the correct bill. Assemblyman Carl DeMaio leads Reform California and is giving the inside information from the Assembly.

Thanks for the updated information. Reading the text of the bill:
https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1421/id/3137105
shows that its effect seems to be somewhat minimal in the near term. However, I agree that we should all keep an eye on what our states do to pay for roads...especially in light of the influence of special interests on "our" (actually their) representatives on all sides.

 

[bananaslug79]

Exactly. “The market will decide the winners and losers.”

Am I doing this right?

I bitched to my wife about this yesterday. The feds will take away any incentives for EVs (because free market, right?) but then DIS-incentive us with massive fees/taxes? Wait...what??

 

[Danface]

I bitched to my wife about this yesterday. The feds will take away any incentives for EVs (because free market, right?) but then DIS-incentive us with massive fees/taxes? Wait...what??

We all want "less government" (but only of the "kind we don't like").

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