Proposed Federal EV road fee - draft legislation in the House.

[chl]

I like this idea... it's after all all about the axle weight of vehicles which use public roads, to pay their share.

Additionally, this avoids the "in-state" vice "out-of-state" fairness of road use issues... some I'm sure never drive out of their state, while our Lightning for example has driven through at least 28 states.

Well, yes that's part of it, but it's also about miles traveled, which is what the Federal HVUT uses (Heavy Vehicle Use Tax).

Mere ownership does not indicate how much wear and tear the vehicle actually causes to roads.

I don't drive my vehicles a lot, and haven't since I began work-from-home back in the early 2000's and no longer needed the daily commute to an office, no young kids to drive around anymore, etc.

So just going by the type of vehicle (EV or Hybrid) or by the weight/axles with a flat fee doesn't fairly quantify the road wear and tear my vehicle actually causes.

In Virginia, a highway use fee is generally assessed on vehicles that get 25mpg combined or better.

But in Virginia there is the Virginia Mileage Choice Program that allows me to pay a highway use fee (HUF) based on my actual miles driven annually.

https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/taxes-fees/highway-use

The maximum amount of the fee is based primarily on the MPG of the type of vehicle and an average miles driven per year of 11,600 miles:

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• HUF is 85% of the difference between taxes paid by a vehicle with a 23.7 rating and taxes paid by a vehicle using the manufacturer's combined MPG rating based on the average miles driven by all Virginians

HUF= [((11,600 average miles traveled * fuels tax rate) / 23.7) - ((11,600 average miles traveled * fuels tax rate) / vehicle's MPG rating)] * .85

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It uses a GPS device that reports the miles I drive and charges a prorated portion of the total fee each month. Once a year, the mileage is trued-up to match my odometer with the upload of an odometer image.

The accumulated monthly charges are capped once they reach the amount I would have paid if I paid it as a flat fee.

I always pay less that way than if I paid it as a flat fee. Drive less, pay less.

There are two areas of potential "unfairness:"
1) if you drive out of state it still counts towards the Virginia annual HUF miles, and
2) if you exceed the 11,600 miles, they don't charge for the extra miles.

If an ICE vehicle buys gas in Virginia and pays the state gas tax, then drives into another state, the same 'unfairness' accrues.

I don't think any of the HUF collected by Virginia goes towards the Federal gas tax that we don't pay at the pump when we drive an EV.

That is why the Feds want to charge us EV drivers a Federal highway use fee.

But miles driven ought to be used to be fair.

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[hoovertac]

Folks…

Ugh. WA State outrageous car tabs already includes EV fees. Why pay twice.

 

[21st Century Truck]

??

 

[dorbi]

Yep. We already pay $150 every year for lost gas tax, and an additional $75 which is supposed to go towards EV infrastructure and charging projects.

So sure, let's add an additional $150 on top!

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