Internal combustion engine drivers would pay only $20 a year, and only from 2030.
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Republicans want to tax EV drivers $200/year in new transport bill
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I could get behind a mileage based tax with a weight multiplier. But knowing how politics works, likely the 6000+lbs vehicles would get exempted.
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To be even more fair and make people even more furious, it should be distance AND weight of the vehicle.
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You hit every previously-rebutted anti-EV bullet point, and I got a free “don’t call it ICE that term has a negative connotation” bonus space
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They already are. The gas tax is based on number of gallons purchased, which is directly related to the number of miles driven, though with a different relation for each vehicle (30 mpg vs. 40 mpg).
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I'm fine with the concept of road users paying taxes to support the maintenance of said roads. The execution however, is moronic.
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the reason why the author said the administration is waging a "war against science and the environment" is because well, it is.
if you bothered to click the links you'd have found out that almost a week ago, the director of the National Science Foundation resigned and in the next fiscal year, 55% of it's budget is going to be cut AND about half of the foundation's staff will be fired.
This is all after cancelling about a billion dollars worth of grants funding scientific research.
That was the science part, for the environment, check this out: the administration cut funding for the organization that gives us the National Climate Assessment two weeks ago and then yesterday, fired all the authors working on the assessment. The NCA was a report that provided us with a detailed look at the state of climate science, the impacts warming is having on the US, and our efforts to limit warming and deal with those impacts. It's a part of the Global Change Research Act of 1990. I'm shocked the administration even managed to do that, i thought they couldn't by law
these are just two things listed. there is so much more.
also if you bothered to read the author's other piece(s) about ev road tax, this falls right in line with their sentiment, they've always thought it is regressive especially in comparison to commercial vehicles and have also always thought this would hurt EV adoption
take your false equivalency somewhere else and RTFA when you get there
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What's next? Every non-smoker gets taxed for not contributing to the tobacco industry?
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I don't have a problem with paying taxes to use the public roads. I already pay an EV fee to my state to cover their share, and I'm fine with paying an EV fee to the federal government if it helps maintain the roads. But if they are going to index that fee to inflation, then they need to index the federal gas tax to inflation as well. If that had been true since it was last increased in 1993, it would have added another $0.22 in taxes per gallon.
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That $20 ICE vehicle tax has already been walked back.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/30/republicans-pull-passenger-vehicle-fee-00317786
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/30/republicans-pull-passenger-vehicle-fee-00317786
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We already DO power cars by burning coal. According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, 16.2% of electricity generation in 2023 came from coal--another 43.1% came from burning natural gas.
It's reasonable to say that 16.2% of the oomph in your EV comes from coal--but that understates the case. Most utility tariffs for EV charging give incentives to charge overnight--when wind and solar (obv.) contribute very little to grid production. So the percentage of electricity used to re-charge your battery is somewhat higher than 16%.
Read more here: https://eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us-generation-capacity-and-sales.php
It's reasonable to say that 16.2% of the oomph in your EV comes from coal--but that understates the case. Most utility tariffs for EV charging give incentives to charge overnight--when wind and solar (obv.) contribute very little to grid production. So the percentage of electricity used to re-charge your battery is somewhat higher than 16%.
Read more here: https://eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us-generation-capacity-and-sales.php
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We already have odometers in every car, and it's recorded periodically as evidenced by the mileage history in a carfax report. Even though that doesn't separate highways from other driving, it's still mostly fair with basically no privacy concerns if you just tax based on that mileage, which could be recorded at registration/inspection time and be rolled into that cost. You could tell people who have a lot of off-highway miles that they should prove it to claim a reduced fee if they want and everyone else can just pay that number and save the effort. For the most part untaxed offroad fuel being misused onroad isn't why our roads suck, so people claiming a modest amount of off-highway miles probably won't either.
But instead, one group is going to try to fuck over EV's and the other group is going to refuse to accept anything less than some sort of mandatory privacy-invading scheme to make things slightly more equitable at great cost.
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Why are you shocked? More than half of what the administration has done to date is explicitly illegal, but unfortunately it takes too long for the courts to catch up. Much of what is being done is impossible to fully reverse, so even if a court stops them eventually the damage is done.
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They may already have an RFID tag in their gut too. I don't know the specifics, but I'd guess the gut tags are more common in larger factory farming operations than the free-range-ish small herds like those.
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I don't have a problem paying some kind of tax to cover roads. That used to be bundled up in the price of gas, which was an imperfect system, but I guess we made it work.
But what's even less perfect than a gas tax is a flat tax. I already pay my state a flat tax every year on my EV to offset the gas tax and it works out to a bit more than I'd pay in gas taxes, depending on how efficient I assume a comparable ICEV would be. But that's including both the state and federal portions of gas tax. This would make my tax way more than an ICEV. Obviously their point, but that's what's bullshit. I'm perfectly happy to pay the equivalent tax. I'm not even upset that my flat tax is actually a bit higher. They picked a number and erred a bit high, whatever. The double dipping though, that's low. But i suppose not surprising given the party that's backing it.
Didn't this cunt run on getting rid of taxes? Obviously I'm not stupid enough to believe it, but all I've really heard since he took office (besides sending people to concentration camps in other countries) is how much more I'm going to be paying for shit because of his taxes.
But what's even less perfect than a gas tax is a flat tax. I already pay my state a flat tax every year on my EV to offset the gas tax and it works out to a bit more than I'd pay in gas taxes, depending on how efficient I assume a comparable ICEV would be. But that's including both the state and federal portions of gas tax. This would make my tax way more than an ICEV. Obviously their point, but that's what's bullshit. I'm perfectly happy to pay the equivalent tax. I'm not even upset that my flat tax is actually a bit higher. They picked a number and erred a bit high, whatever. The double dipping though, that's low. But i suppose not surprising given the party that's backing it.
Didn't this cunt run on getting rid of taxes? Obviously I'm not stupid enough to believe it, but all I've really heard since he took office (besides sending people to concentration camps in other countries) is how much more I'm going to be paying for shit because of his taxes.
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Hmmmm - probably another Republican/MAGA/Mango Moron Pump and Dump Scheme like tariffs etc.
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If I remove the catalytic converter from my Prius, would that cancel out the electric drive so it qualifies for the lower registration fee?
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You don't find it the least bit hypocritical that :
- Republicans have been opposed to the Federal gas tax to the point that there hasn't been a change since 1993
- Now that EVs are a thing, Republicans are suddenly worried about road maintenance and costs
- The proposed tax is not based on any sort of real-world data about what causes road wear
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The idea that EV drivers should pay a tax to the Federal highway fund to compensate for the fact that they don't pay gasoline tax makes good sense. I have no objections, despite using a BEV as our primary household transportation. I use those roads in the same way ICE drivers do. But it should be comparable to the ICE taxation, which, with federal gas tax rate at under $0.20/gallon, these are not. First, make them mileage and vehicle weight-based, like the gas taxes naturally are, and then tie them to the gas tax rate. For a sedan like our Ioniq 6, that would come to roughly $.006/mile, or for our household, about $75/year, not $200-250. If they need more highway revenue than that, raise the gas tax alongside the EV tax.
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Average American drives ~12k miles/year. Current federal gas tax is $0.184/gal. Assuming a 20mpg vehicle (pathetic, but there are a surprising number of these), you're paying $110/year in gas tax. Assuming a 30mpg vehicle, you're paying $74/year.
Math isn't my strong suit, but $200 >> $110 > $74. Unless they want to more than double the federal gas tax, this is just a punitive exercise in stealing from 'blue' voters. I am surprised Teslas are not exempt though. Guess we'll have to wait and see what's in the final bill...
Math isn't my strong suit, but $200 >> $110 > $74. Unless they want to more than double the federal gas tax, this is just a punitive exercise in stealing from 'blue' voters. I am surprised Teslas are not exempt though. Guess we'll have to wait and see what's in the final bill...
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And the rest of the oomph (83.8%) comes from:
43.1% natural gas
21.4% renewable
18.6% nuclear
Which is actually pretty cool when you compare it to the paltry 16% of coal.
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It will definitely increase the number of people who work from home and "need" a company car...
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EVs have to help pay for federals highways somehow. They don't pay federal gas tax so either a flat fee or a milage fee are the only way to go. May states and countries already do this.
I don't see why commercial vehicles should be exempt other than a handout to business cronies.
I don't see why commercial vehicles should be exempt other than a handout to business cronies.
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We'll its not too unreasonable considering that the Highway Trust Fund is largely funded by tax on gas so it makes sense to make up for lost revenuee....
Jesus Christ these guys don't believe in anything but a imaginary track record of petty grievances
Jesus Christ these guys don't believe in anything but a imaginary track record of petty grievances
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Unpopular opinion, I'm sure...but I'm okay with charging EVs a fee. The motives of the Trump administration for imposing this fee are entirely wrong - it's virtue signalling red meat for their own base - but sooner or later we'll need a fee system.
The highway fund is massively under-funded and we're having to put income tax money towards the DOT. Gas taxes were intended as user fees - use the roads, pay the fee. Freezing the federal gas tax since 1993, however, has resulted in inflation massively eating away at the purchasing power of tax monies collected. Increased fuel efficiency in vehicles has decreased the tax money collected per unit of damage/wear/tear caused.
As others have noted, fees should be based on vehicle weight and mileage driven. The weight is easy enough - you have to register your vehicle in your state, so it's a simple database query to say "your vehicle weighs X lbs/kg." Mileage is tougher because we don't have a nationwide network of toll highways. I suppose we could put EZ pass readers at every entrance and exit on interstate highways. Your account would be linked to your vehicle registration and your fee for using the highway would be linked to your vehicle weight and distance driven.
That would probably result in less gaming of the system (read: lying) than doing what my county does in regards to property taxes. I have to input my odometer mileage every year into the county website, and my property tax gets calculated based on whatever methodology the county uses to assess my vehicle's value due to its age and mileage. If the system flags me as suspicious the county can obtain a warrant for law enforcement to search my vehicle and pull the odometer mileage to see if it matches what I've reported. I rather suspect that such an honor system for levying of fees for usage of roads funded by federal monies would see a lot of dishonorable cheating.
The problem would roll down to the state level, since states levy gas taxes as well.
One other possibility is to set up a system to levy an EV tax on electricity. You have to register your vehicle with the state, so the state DMV could simply pass information to your electric utility saying "the customer at this address has an EV." If you have a level 2 charger then a 'smart meter' functionality on it would tell the electric company how much power is being used by your EV. Since the DMV knows what type of EV, a lookup of EV efficiency testing could result in an assumed kWh/mi value and the utility would levy a road usage fee on your utility account and pass the fee on to the state. If you choose not to use a level 2 charger and just use your wall plug then the electric utility would assume you drive 15,000 miles per year (which is right about the U.S. average) and assess a road usage fee for 1,250 miles per month. The burden of proof would be on you to prove you drove less than 15,000 miles - I suppose the system could allow you to visit an approved facility that transfers your mileage data from your car's computer and then receive a refund on the fee you paid for mileage you didn't drive.
I guess that system would give a bit of a free ride to people who drive more than 15,000 miles per year. But you could add a bit of a check into the system by having it compare the mileage you report for property tax purposes. If you want to pay more in property taxes to pay less in usage fees and risk getting charged with tax evasion...well, that's your risk:reward to look at.
The highway fund is massively under-funded and we're having to put income tax money towards the DOT. Gas taxes were intended as user fees - use the roads, pay the fee. Freezing the federal gas tax since 1993, however, has resulted in inflation massively eating away at the purchasing power of tax monies collected. Increased fuel efficiency in vehicles has decreased the tax money collected per unit of damage/wear/tear caused.
As others have noted, fees should be based on vehicle weight and mileage driven. The weight is easy enough - you have to register your vehicle in your state, so it's a simple database query to say "your vehicle weighs X lbs/kg." Mileage is tougher because we don't have a nationwide network of toll highways. I suppose we could put EZ pass readers at every entrance and exit on interstate highways. Your account would be linked to your vehicle registration and your fee for using the highway would be linked to your vehicle weight and distance driven.
That would probably result in less gaming of the system (read: lying) than doing what my county does in regards to property taxes. I have to input my odometer mileage every year into the county website, and my property tax gets calculated based on whatever methodology the county uses to assess my vehicle's value due to its age and mileage. If the system flags me as suspicious the county can obtain a warrant for law enforcement to search my vehicle and pull the odometer mileage to see if it matches what I've reported. I rather suspect that such an honor system for levying of fees for usage of roads funded by federal monies would see a lot of dishonorable cheating.
The problem would roll down to the state level, since states levy gas taxes as well.
One other possibility is to set up a system to levy an EV tax on electricity. You have to register your vehicle with the state, so the state DMV could simply pass information to your electric utility saying "the customer at this address has an EV." If you have a level 2 charger then a 'smart meter' functionality on it would tell the electric company how much power is being used by your EV. Since the DMV knows what type of EV, a lookup of EV efficiency testing could result in an assumed kWh/mi value and the utility would levy a road usage fee on your utility account and pass the fee on to the state. If you choose not to use a level 2 charger and just use your wall plug then the electric utility would assume you drive 15,000 miles per year (which is right about the U.S. average) and assess a road usage fee for 1,250 miles per month. The burden of proof would be on you to prove you drove less than 15,000 miles - I suppose the system could allow you to visit an approved facility that transfers your mileage data from your car's computer and then receive a refund on the fee you paid for mileage you didn't drive.
I guess that system would give a bit of a free ride to people who drive more than 15,000 miles per year. But you could add a bit of a check into the system by having it compare the mileage you report for property tax purposes. If you want to pay more in property taxes to pay less in usage fees and risk getting charged with tax evasion...well, that's your risk:reward to look at.
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Isn't the F-150 the most popular "car" in the USA? And the Model Y is considerably lighter.
Further, battery weights are falling.
Assuming the fourth law of road wear versus axle loading holds, one 40 tonne truck with 5 axles at 8 tonnes per axle would equal about 10 000 EVs at one tonne per axle.
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MAGA got bought by the broligarchs but for some reason the MAGA rank and file seem to have not noticed that their revolution was sold out from under them. Maybe that's why Trump loves the poorly educated, they're so much easier to scam.
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ColdWetDog
Ars Legatus Legionis
Huh, haven't given my insurance company a mileage value or an estimate. Ever. I suppose somebody is telling them. My mechanic writes down the mileage on the bill and if they have an agreement with a data aggregator, there it goes. (That has to be a business, it is too obvious to ignore). But I don't give it to them. And I'm pretty sure a bill that potentially asks for a lot of money after selling a car is a non starter. It is a tough problem...
EDIT: As usual, I'm late to the game....
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And they increased the proposed EV registration fee from $200 to $250. They essentially want to eliminate gas tax and put the entire road upkeep bill on EV and hybrid owners.
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They're shocked because they refused to believe this stuff could ever happen here.
Anyone surprised by what's happening has some serious naïveté they need to work through. They have fundamental misunderstandings not only of politics, but of people in general, and how they think and act, especially in groups.
Now that's a lot to learn. So if they don't have time, I'd give them this advice: just ignore anything you think and listen to other people. Either accept your ignorance and let another lead you, or do your fucking homework and stop living under a rock.
Thems the options.
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Literally, HOW would such a tax even work? Is there even a constitutional mechanism that would permit it?
A direct tax with a federal vehicle registry? Not a chance.
A direct tax with a federal vehicle registry? Not a chance.
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My insurance company asks me how many miles on each vehicle at least once every few years. Recently I listed 1000 miles on my Jeep. They didn't believe me and sent me a letter asking me to try again. I looked at the current mileage, the mileage at the last oil change, and divided by the number of years. Fine. 500 miles it is! Somehow this gets pulled in to the rate I'm charged but it doesn't seem to make much difference at the levels I drive per year.
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