PA: $200 EV registration fee starting in 2025

[ryun]

Was signed by Gov. Shapiro recently. $200 additional registration fee added starting in 2025. $250 in 2026. Then it gets adjusted for inflation thereafter. Also targets plug in hybrids with a lower fee. Here's a good, recent article on the bill before the governor signed it into law.

https://penncapital-star.com/transp...ion-fee-under-legislation-passed-in-pa-house/

While researching this more I learned we were supposed to self report our kWh usage at home under the old law and pay taxes on it. But like me almost nobody did it. Whoops!

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[Lightning&Bolt]

While none of us want to pay more and we would also like to have better visibility into how they use the road tax money, this is the reality that has loomed in the horizon for years now.

 

[Ricks Lightning]

Already in California.
My $50k lightning pro that purchased in May was $900+ for license fees.
There was a time when there was no road tax fees for electric vehicles as it was all a tax at the pump. but not only do I pay the $200 in Calif, I also pya a weight fee as 99% of all Pickups are registered as commercial.

Rick

 

[sfringer]

Here in North Carolina I'll be paying a $214.50 electric vehicle fee as well as $739.01 in property taxes based on vehicle value (paid to the county and the city) - added to the license registration fee of $312.50 for a whopping total of $1.051.51.

 

[Danface]

"Death and Taxes" ... the only two things that are certain in life.

 

[THX1138]

Was signed by Gov. Shapiro recently. $200 additional registration fee added starting in 2025. $250 in 2026. Then it gets adjusted for inflation thereafter. Also targets plug in hybrids with a lower fee. Here's a good, recent article on the bill before the governor signed it into law.

https://penncapital-star.com/transp...ion-fee-under-legislation-passed-in-pa-house/

While researching this more I learned we were supposed to self report our kWh usage at home under the old law and pay taxes on it. But like me almost nobody did it. Whoops!

Thanks for the news.

 

[mrau]

Michigan has been charging the extra EV Fee & EV Tax since at least 2019.

$155 on the Lightning.

 

[chl]

I have been paying a EV surcharge and a hybrid surcharge in Va for years. It's to replace the lost revenue from gas tax that pays for roads, etc.

Recently they have allowed us to pay by actual miles driven, 0.01 cents per mile EV and 0.0056 cents per mile for hybrids.

It caps when the normal surcharge is reached $116.49 for an EV and $65.21 for a hybrid.

The program is called "Virginia Mileage Choice." They assume 11,650 miles per year average driving of ICE vehicles and set the charges accordingly.

They have a OBD device that tracks by GPS the miles driven, more or less accurately, then once a year at registration time you reconcile the mileage.

You put some money down to start and then the automatically deduct whatever the charge is monthly based on the reported miles from the device.

There were some initial glitches getting the devices to connect to their system - they use a cell signal, probably AT&T (like Ford) which has sheety service in my neighborhood, so I had to drive around a bunch to get it to connect. Their app was funky as well, you take a pic with your phone of the odometer and upload it - it has to be pretty perfect of else their system won't read it correctly.

Not a big deterrent to owning an EV or Hybrid.

They ought to think about funding roads another way in my opinion.

We don't get any credit for not polluting the air as much and the costs to the environment, the health care system etc. that tail pipe pollution causes.

Economists call them 'externalities' and they don't use it in their calculations - and global climate change is the result.

As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

Give unto Caesar that which is Caesars...

 

[jefrank]

Michigan has been charging the extra EV Fee & EV Tax since at least 2019.

$155 on the Lightning.

Just got my renewals in the mail... I think they think my 2022 is just a plain ol' F-150. Shhhh!

 

[Webbo85]

The gas tax in PA is the highest in the nation at $0.576 per gallon, so the $200 is still a lot cheaper than I'd be contributing if I was driving a gas vehicle still.

 

[ExCivilian]

They have a OBD device that tracks by GPS the miles driven, more or less accurately, then once a year at registration time you reconcile the mileage.

If this is the case, then they shouldn't be imposing a privacy invasive device since reconciliation can be easily accomplished via yearly odometer reads.

 

[chl]

If this is the case, then they shouldn't be imposing a privacy invasive device since reconciliation can be easily accomplished via yearly odometer reads.

I hear ya.

I had suggested a LOOOOOOONG time ago (to my Va reps) that they use the mileage at the yearly safety inspection - crickets in response.

This company (emovis) that does the monitoring for the Va DMV does it for other states as well.
The app is called Drivesync.

Back in 2022, they had a computer glitch and charged everybody the total yearly amount one month. It took them over a month to straighten it out.

The only wrinkle with not using GPS in theory might be if I drive a lot in other states, I should not be charged by VA for driving on the other state's roads. However, I don't think this system accounts for that.

One interesting thing is the Drivesync app monitors your driving, so if you are speeding, don't stop for stop signs, etc. it catches that and gives you a score!

They do not use the info for anything except to inform you of your driving profile, according to their privacy statement/contract/rules. So they don't tell the DMV or the Ins. industry you are a good or bad driver.

One thing it showed was that I score usually 100% - no rules violated, but my wife - OMG!
Speeding is especially one of her problems!

I have warned her about it many many times, to no avail, even before the Drivesync tattled on her.

So just last week, she got a speeding ticket mailed to her - $100 - at a speed camera in D.C.

A little OFF TOPIC, even without the GPS OBD device, there are camera's everywhere, the police are even using drones now where there aren't mounted cameras. And of course every thing one says or does on the Internet is captured by En Es Aye computers tied in through the phone company to huge data farms for data mining - my brother worked for ATT when a whistle blower went public with that back in the early 2000's, and he was really upset about the leaking of a classified program. It was part of the Patriot Act to fight terror by collecting overseas calls - however, it caught a lot more than just overseas calls.

Anyway I am EE and an Atty and I worked for the US Patent and Trademark Office for 4 years while in law school with a low level security clearance required for the job. I am aware of the privacy concerns, and how all the tracking and listening tech could be abused, by private companies OR the Govt. OR a foreign entity.

But GPS tracking my Leaf or Lightning movements is a minimal invasion of my privacy that saves me money, so I guess you could say in this case I sold out.

Cell phones are a lot worse, they track you and listen to everything you say, so the potential for good and bad in that cell phone capability is ubiquitous.

Ford monitors a lot of stuff too. If you have Alexa, she is listening. iPhone? Siri is listening. A casual conversation, and the next thing you know, ads for whatever pop up.

And if you use one of a certain set of words, the authorities could be notified. No joke.

 

[Amps]

If this is the case, then they shouldn't be imposing a privacy invasive device since reconciliation can be easily accomplished via yearly odometer reads.

Yeah, but it's entirely optional. Pay the whole fee the the Commonwealth, or allow a private company (Emovis) to record and aggregate your total vehicle mileage, bill the clean vehicle fee proportionally, and pass it along to Aunt Virginia. The only reason that it requires an OBDII dongle is that Ford locked their telematics down to third parties, which is fine with me. I didn't like that fact that their device is not an OBD pass-through. That limits use of the OBDII port. For many months the truck directly reported odometer reading to Emovis.

https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/taxes-fees/mileage-choice

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

Was signed by Gov. Shapiro recently. $200 additional registration fee added starting in 2025. $250 in 2026. Then it gets adjusted for inflation thereafter. Also targets plug in hybrids with a lower fee. Here's a good, recent article on the bill before the governor signed it into law.

https://penncapital-star.com/transp...ion-fee-under-legislation-passed-in-pa-house/

While researching this more I learned we were supposed to self report our kWh usage at home under the old law and pay taxes on it. But like me almost nobody did it. Whoops!

Wow, that law is just plain stupidity.

 

[detansinn]

It’s a ridiculous surcharge over the regular, very low, PA registration fees. Proponents for the bill sought to deter EV ownership and adoption in Pennsylvania. The fee structure is actually the second highest in the nation and will be the highest with the future, baked in increases. It’s punitive. $250+/yr will really add up, especially for those of us with multiple EV households.

It would have made more sense to do a modest gas tax increase that would have encouraged EV and hybrid adoption. Instead, they have created a new barrier to ownership.

Pennsylvania roads are smoking hot garbage, because precious little of the liquid fuels tax makes it way to municipalities. The new EV registration scam dollars will be used for things like the drug take back program. This is purely a revenue play on our backs — we’re a piggy bank for other projects.

They sold us down the river here. I already voiced my disappointment to my local State Rep, Tim Brennan. As someone who has called Tim a friend for many years, I could not be more disappointed in his response and him. I won’t share our private exchange, but his yard sign will never appear in our yard again.

Disclaimer: I was an elected official in Pennsylvania for 12 years. Worked with multiple governors (both sides of the aisle) along with members of the house and senate. I know BS from Harrisburg when I see it.

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