NH EV fee

[VTbuckeye]

This exactly, but then if you impose the fees on all cars, there is a danger that people will get upset, and turn the current set of bums out of their sinecures.

But they can say they are replacing the gas tax ... because those filthy EV drivers are not paying their fair share. A replacement tax is different than a new tax.

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[shutterbug]

But they can say they are replacing the gas tax ... because those filthy EV drivers are not paying their fair share. A replacement tax is different than a new tax.

Gas tax is a hidden tax and its a few dollars at a time. The surcharge will show up all at once for a whole year. It's hard to ignore.

 

[petemill]

1. It's great to get the incentives away from Gas purchase
2. There's too much nuance in a per-mile rate. What if most of your miles are out of state - you might feel hard done by.

 

[The Weatherman]

You‘re fairly close. My 17 F150 averaged 18 MPG. So in 5000 miles, 288 gallons of gas.

Kentucky gas tax is $0.287, federal is $0.184, so 47.1 cents total. That’s $131 in gas tax paid. So you’re paying an extra $29 per year. That’s barely enough to get a decent bottle of Kentucky bourbon.

I don’t put many miles on my truck, either. 2900 in 8 months of ownership. But I’d rather pay the flat fee than have them try to track my miles.

I was driving a 2022 Maverick getting 26mpg, so yeah I’m paying more.

 

[Maquis]

I was driving a 2022 Maverick getting 26mpg, so yeah I’m paying more.

IMO, unless you compare like vehicles, it’s not really valid.

Yes, you’re paying more, but driving a truck that weighs almost twice as much.

 

[Jhalkias]

The biggest issue I see with these add ons is there is no consideration of miles driven. Since my wife and I are fully retired and maintaining my 90 yr old father, we drive like 6,000-8,000 miles a year and that’s across two vehicles. (One EV and one gas).

There is no way I would have been racking up that amount of gas taxes on the 4K-5k I might put on my Lightning.

This is exactly right. I put 30,000 miles on the Lightning back and forth to work, but my wife works from home, and the Mach E is only driven locally by my daughter. Minimal miles on the other two cars, and the one is a PHEV that still takes gas.

 

[ivan256]

Overall as we transition to EVs, states will have to replace the state highway funds generated from gas taxes with another source of revenue. Registration taxes on EVs is a reasonable route (and likely more politically-palatable that raising overall state income or sales tax rates).

Ideally these taxes should be based on vehicle weight class and annual miles driven. For states that have annual or biannual safety inspections (HI, LA, ME, MA, MO, NH, NY, NC, PA, RI, TX, VT, VA, and WV) a mileage reading can be part of the inspection and can be used to compute the tax. For other states, the easiest approach (for both the state and the vehicle-owners) is to add a tax based on weight class to the annual registration fee.

According to the US Department of Energy, the average vehicle pays between $141 and $398 per year in fuel taxes depending on state (AK is the lowest, PA is the highest), so overall annual EV-specific taxes of $100 to $400 seem roughly reasonable.

Ideally the taxes would be based on your ability to pay them and we’d drop the pretense of a road use tax. Everybody benefits from the roads. Even if you never drive. Everybody should pay for them. And use taxes are unfairly regressive.

 

[LightningShow]

You seem to be under mistaken impression that these fees really are to replace lost gasoline taxes. In fact, it's nothing more than a money grab by governments. Since EV owners are still in the minority, they figure there is no downside to it.

Correct. Electricity is already taxed so the "fuel" being used for EVs is already subject to taxation.

 

[hturnerfamily]

AL is about $203 for EVs and GA is about the same at $218 for EVs, and I'll bet that neither 'EV Fee'(roaduse tax) is refundable if you sell the vehicle.

GA is in discussions to potentially consider a 'DC Fast Charging/Public Level 2 EV Tax Fee', mainly for those out-of-state vehicles using local roads and highways. I don't have a problem with collecting roaduse tax that way, but you'd also need to figure out how to charge 'at home' charging in a similar fashion, doing away with any 'flat' roaduse tax at registration.

 

[LancerBoom]

However now that I read the actual writing of the law. It would seem that I should be exempt since the Gross Weight of the Lightning Extended Range is greater than 8,000 lbs? If that is the case, this would obviously be a loophole they would close up at some point.

Just bought and registered my Lariat ER in Iowa. My guess is they mean gross vehicle weight which is 6600 lbs and not GVWR (max weight rating of vehicle plus cargo) which is 8400 lbs for my Lariat. My vehicle weight is 6600 pounds according to my registration.

Iowa‘s registration as a passenger vehicle is 1% of list price of base model (Lightning Pro = $47,000)$470 + $0.40/100 pounds (6600 pounds for my Lariat)$26 + $130 EV charge = $626. However I’m registering as a business trade (farm) which only goes off weight (3-4 ton) and age (0-7 years) and is $165. I was surprised to learn the EV fee isn’t applied to business trade - only passenger.

Iowa starting July 1 also added a 2.6 cent/kWh fee to public chargers and business fleets that charge their own vehicles payable every 6 months. However in their FAQ they state business owners that charge their vehicle at their home residence are exempt. So it looks like I got out of both fees.

 

[Sneakypetie78]

Just bought and registered my Lariat ER in Iowa. My guess is they mean gross vehicle weight which is 6600 lbs and not GVWR (max weight rating of vehicle plus cargo) which is 8400 lbs for my Lariat. My vehicle weight is 6600 pounds according to my registration.

Iowa‘s registration as a passenger vehicle is 1% of list price of base model (Lightning Pro = $47,000)$470 + $0.40/100 pounds (6600 pounds for my Lariat)$26 + $130 EV charge = $626. However I’m registering as a business trade (farm) which only goes off weight (3-4 ton) and age (0-7 years) and is $165. I was surprised to learn the EV fee isn’t applied to business trade - only passenger.

Iowa starting July 1 also added a 2.6 cent/kWh fee to public chargers and business fleets that charge their own vehicles payable every 6 months. However in their FAQ they state business owners that charge their vehicle at their home residence are exempt. So it looks like I got out of both fees.

Nicely done!

 

[djwildstar]

Everybody benefits from the roads. Even if you never drive. Everybody should pay for them. And use taxes are unfairly regressive.

I completely agree -- for facilities and services that benefit everyone (and I consider roads one of those items) should be paid for by everyone, ideally through a progressive taxation system.

Correct. Electricity is already taxed so the "fuel" being used for EVs is already subject to taxation.

This depends on the state and locality, but typically the tax on electricity is a sales tax, and isn't "earmarked" for road spending. Since it is a consumption tax it is also likely to be unfairly regressive.

In general, the issue is political: Many voters oppose anything that sounds like a new tax or tax increase. So politicians find it easer to support taxes that can be "hidden" in other costs or that can be "earmarked" for a specific purpose that most voters support -- so we get sales taxes, fuel taxes to pay for roads, etc. Even so, new taxes are a hard sell: about 10 years ago here in Georgia, the public voted down down a ballot proposition that would have increased sales taxes to pay for road, highway, and bridge improvements.

IF legislatures required vehicle-owners to fully fund highway and road construction and maintenance on a per-vehicle-mile basis, the US average cost would be $0.0703 per vehicle-mile (or about $1055 for the average vehicle that gets driven about 15,000 miles/year), but the cost varies widely from state to state. The high is Alaska at $0.2565 per vehicle-mile (or about $2,850 for the average Alaskan vehicle, which gets driven around 11,100 miles/year) and the low is in Missouri at $0.0379 per vehicle-mile (or about $702 for the average Missourian vehicle, which gets driven over 18,500 miles/year).

Again, I don't actually favor charging per vehicle-mile, but I'm afraid that's the direction state legislatures are likely to go, particularly given that nearly every US state funds their roads and highways with a gasoline tax. So we'll either see a direct tax on EV registrations by weight class, by miles driven, or both, a use tax on electricity used for EV charging, or some combination of these.

I do think that conservative legislatures are likely to "stick it to the liberals" and initially levy disproportional charges against EVs. However, I also expect that will be short-lived: once a significant number of drivers are in EVs, there will be political pressure to lower those costs.

 

[ivan256]

I completely agree -- for facilities and services that benefit everyone (and I consider roads one of those items) should be paid for by everyone, ideally through a progressive taxation system.

Progressive taxation is controversial. But I think almost everybody agrees regressive taxation is bad.

 

[djwildstar]

Progressive taxation is controversial. But I think almost everybody agrees regressive taxation is bad.

Practically speaking, all tax schemes are either progressive (tax burden increases as income increases) or regressive (tax burden decreases as income increases). Even most "flat" tax schemes are actually one or the other in practice:

• A flat tax with income-based deductions or a minimum taxable income is actually progressive. For example, Iceland has a flat income tax, but allows certain deductions that make it a progressive tax (taxpayers pay no tax if their income is less than the deductions, but their tax liability increases as income increases).
• A flat tax with an income cap or tax liability cap are actually regressive. For example, US FICA taxes are a flat tax with a maximum taxable income, so it is actually regressive (once you hit the income limit you pay no more taxes, so your FICA tax as a percentage of total income drops as income rises).
• Consumption taxes (like a gas tax or sales taxes) are typically have flat rates, but are regressive because lower-income individuals typically spend a greater proportion of their income on these items than higher-income individuals.

 

[LightningShow]

Consumption tax is the most fair tax. All taxes should be consumption tax.

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