Is mine the only state that punishes folks for buying an EV?

[John Becker]

I have read with interest reports on this forum of incentives provided by states to encourage the purchase of EVs. I just registered my Lightning and the itemized registration fees included a $200 Electric Vehicle Fee which I will have to pay every year. Is Alabama the only state that does that?

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[John Becker]

Ohio also has a $200 EV penalty allocated to highways.

 

[chl]

I have read with interest reports on this forum of incentives provided by states to encourage the purchase of EVs. I just registered my Lightning and the itemized registration fees included a $200 Electric Vehicle Fee which I will have to pay every year. Is Alabama the only state that does that?

No Virginia does the same thing.

But they have a program that can reduce the fee based on actual miles driven called "Virginia Mileage Choice." It's for both hybrids and EVs. They just introduced it in 2022.

Before I signed up I had several years of paying the full fee, and complaining to my local state reps about penalizing me and other EV drivers for saving the planet and the local air from tail-pipe pollution. Virginia does not have a state incentive for EV/hybrids either.

But, as my dad used to say, virtue is its own reward. And no good deed goes unpunished either.

For my Nissan Leaf, instead of having to pay the whole fee at registration, I signed up for the program. It charges me 1 cent per mile up to the yearly fee of $116.49. Since I only use the Leaf for local driving to and from the grocery store etc. I should save some $.

For our Prius hybrid, the rate is lower per mile because it also burns gasoline. The rate is $0.0053 per mile up to the total yearly fee of $61.27.

So they base the fee on an assumed 11,650 miles per year of driving and what kind of vehicle you drive, hybrid or EV.

The program uses a GPS device in your OBD port they provide which also tracks your driving statistics, e.g., speed, and can give you a report on how well you are driving based on their criteria - hint: speeding lowers your score. That data is not used for anything (so they say) but is there for you to see. My wife drives the Prius mostly and her score is often pretty bad LOL. Mostly speeding on roads where the posted speed is 55 but everybody on the road is doing 70 except when the state police are sighted.

I will save $ on the Leaf because it is all local driving. But since we use the Prius for long trips, not sure how that will end up yet.

The program is also in several other states. Maybe you could nag your elected politicians to implement the program? Once they are done with all the "important" stuff, like ----fill in the blank non-sense---.

Good luck.

 

[chl]

No Virginia does the same thing.

But they have a program that can reduce the fee based on actual miles driven called "Virginia Mileage Choice." It's for both hybrids and EVs. They just introduced it in 2022.

Before I signed up I had several years of paying the full fee, and complaining to my local state reps about penalizing me and other EV drivers for saving the planet and the local air from tail-pipe pollution. Virginia does not have a state incentive for EV/hybrids either.

But, as my dad used to say, virtue is its own reward. And no good deed goes unpunished either.

For my Nissan Leaf, instead of having to pay the whole fee at registration, I signed up for the program. It charges me 1 cent per mile up to the yearly fee of $116.49. Since I only use the Leaf for local driving to and from the grocery store etc. I should save some $.

For our Prius hybrid, the rate is lower per mile because it also burns gasoline. The rate is $0.0053 per mile up to the total yearly fee of $61.27.

So they base the fee on an assumed 11,650 miles per year of driving and what kind of vehicle you drive, hybrid or EV.

The program uses a GPS device in your OBD port they provide which also tracks your driving statistics, e.g., speed, and can give you a report on how well you are driving based on their criteria - hint: speeding lowers your score. That data is not used for anything (so they say) but is there for you to see. My wife drives the Prius mostly and her score is often pretty bad LOL. Mostly speeding on roads where the posted speed is 55 but everybody on the road is doing 70 except when the state police are sighted.

I will save $ on the Leaf because it is all local driving. But since we use the Prius for long trips, not sure how that will end up yet.

The program is also in several other states. Maybe you could nag your elected politicians to implement the program? Once they are done with all the "important" stuff, like ----fill in the blank non-sense---.

Good luck.

Not only does Virginia NOT provide incentives for EVs and hybrid, our Governor decided that a proposed Ford plant here to build EV tech (batteries etc.) would be a front for the Chinese government! OMG.

 

[Roy2001]

Then they should charge ICE vehicles pollution fee.

 

[Skipdart]

A lot of states do that to compensate for the lost gas taxes. It’s supposed to go to road maintenance and as long as it does I’m OK with it. You used to pay $0.28 to Alabama for every gallon of gas so just remember that every time you plug your truck in.

When you put it that way, it doesn't seem so bad. Makes a degree of sense too I guess.

 

[9onmy6]

When you put it that way, it doesn't seem so bad. Makes a degree of sense too I guess.

No, it does not. To pay the EV $200 tax that is equivalent of 714 gallons of gas. I didn’t burn thru that much gas with my ICE. Just take away the gas tax and penalize every vehicle $200. Another thing, you are penalized on value and upgrade. You can drive a 1978 LTD for $10 a year, but if you retire that ole girl and upgrade to lighter and more efficient vehicle…boom.
What is the incentive to upgrade to a less polluting car? Still four tires but I have to pay so much more?

 

[RickLightning]

No, it does not. To pay the EV $200 tax that is equivalent of 714 gallons of gas. I didn’t burn thru that much gas with my ICE. Just take away the gas tax and penalize every vehicle $200. Another thing, you are penalized on value and upgrade. You can drive a 1978 LTD for $10 a year, but if you retire that ole girl and upgrade to lighter and more efficient vehicle…boom.
What is the incentive to upgrade to a less polluting car? Still four tires but I have to pay so much more?

Clearly you don't like this fee in your state. So how many of your state's lawmakers did you contact about it? Since it's only an issue in your state, because that's the only place you pay it.

 

[9onmy6]

Clearly you don't like this fee in your state. So how many of your state's lawmakers did you contact about it? Since it's only an issue in your state, because that's the only place you pay it.

No, quite the contrary, I don’t mind the fee. I know it’s suppose to go to road construction. However, let’s make it fair. I didn’t contribute $200 in gas taxes when ICE. So yes, I am being penalized for going ”green”. $200 is just a made up number.

 

[Thomas]

On December 30 we picked up our 2023 Mach e. We got our Lightning in January. Today we have just under 1,200 miles on the Mach e. The Mach e replaced our 2006 Beetle convertible that had less than 50,000 miles on it. That works out to an average of 3,100 miles a year. I should point out that the 5-speed Beetle, in its own way, was just as much fun to drive. as my Mach e.

If I had ordered a Mustang with the 2.3 L eco-boost engine, my combined gas mileage would be ~25 mpg. Let’s say I went crazy and put 6,000 miles on my Mustang this year, my “highway tax“ burden would be $60 on my ICE Mustang. Instead, I have to pay an EV “penalty“ of $200. BTW, There is no way that I will put 6,000 miles on my Mach e this year!

As others have mentioned, make it fair. If you want to set a flat rate for highway use, set a flat rate for *everyone*.

As far as working with our State Legislators goes, did I fail to mention that I live in Alabama?

 

[VTbuckeye]

The gas tax worked great. The more miles driven, the more fuel consumed. The heavier the vehicle, the more fuel consumed per mile. Ergo heavy high mileage vehicles pay the most and do the most damage to the roads. We all acknowledge that we need to pay for road use/maintenance but when all vehicles were ICE it was simple (you paid the fuel tax unless you illegally used red diesel...). In a highly polarized/politicized environment we add EVs.

Please charge all vehicles the same registration fee (ice car=hybrid car=EV car. Ice truck=EV truck) and do away with the gas tax and make it a flat fee for all road users, or do away with the gas tax and charge mileage based fee. Politically this treats EV/ICE the same. As low mileage user I am in favor of a mileage based fee, but understand if this is not how the government decides to go with their plans.

 

[Skipdart]

No, it does not. To pay the EV $200 tax that is equivalent of 714 gallons of gas. I didn’t burn thru that much gas with my ICE. Just take away the gas tax and penalize every vehicle $200. Another thing, you are penalized on value and upgrade. You can drive a 1978 LTD for $10 a year, but if you retire that ole girl and upgrade to lighter and more efficient vehicle…boom.
What is the incentive to upgrade to a less polluting car? Still four tires but I have to pay so much more?

LOL okay then

 

[WhiteLightningII]

Heads-up: when I went to register my Lightning in Ohio, the clerk asked if this was an electric vehicle. The state of Ohio automatically adds $200 to the registration fee. Out of curiosity, I asked what the registration fee would be if I registered the truck as a commercial vehicle. Guess what? There is no additional EV fee to register a vehicle as a commercial vehicle. So the registration fee was only about $75. And yes, I do use mine for work.. once in a while..... Not sure if this is going to be true for very long or if it would work in other states

 

[onepunch]

Charging a "flat fee" on every vehicle is not fair to people with multiple vehicles. I have numerous cars, but only have 1 butt, so I dont use the roads any more than the next guy. I just do it in different vehicles. A flat fee would also not take into account collector cars, which are driven rarely.

Mileage per vehicle is an equitable (although admittedly somewhat clumsy) way of taxing.

 

[WhiteLightningII]

Ohio also has a $200 EV penalty allocated to highways.

If you register your Lightning as a commercial vehicle in Ohio there is "currently" no additional EV surcharge

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