Plus, a lot of people/households have 2 cars (and some even more), so it requires a bit of thinking about your needs…
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Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
- Thread starter PracticalMac
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I use all native apps on it. Spotify works brilliantly, also does podcasts. I can listen to myself
Parking, weather, vehicle tracking, you name it...Similarly in my non EV, two massive screens side by side, has got wireless carplay, I never use it, android is just fine with big screen, split screen on one, DJ decks on the other for the passenger 
I don't know if anyone's seen this yet, but the GOP has a new way to raise funds; a $200 $250 EV registration tax.
ICE cars were going to get $30, but for whatever reason they deemed that too much.
www.politico.com
ICE cars were going to get $30, but for whatever reason they deemed that too much.
Republicans pull passenger vehicle fee after GOP blowback
Pushback from House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson saying the fee wasn’t a priority, proved to be too much to keep it in the markup.
well, there is a federal tax on gasoline which obviously does not apply to EVs. So, government does what gov does best: keep your income steady or increase it ...I don't know if anyone's seen this yet, but the GOP has a new way to raise funds; a$200$250 EV registration tax.
ICE cars were going to get $30, but for whatever reason they deemed that too much.
Republicans pull passenger vehicle fee after GOP blowback
Pushback from House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson saying the fee wasn’t a priority, proved to be too much to keep it in the markup.
Reality is we as EV owners have gotten a "free ride", that cannot continue.
Whether or not the amount is right, or the blanket method is of course a different topic
We do pay the state a cut from electrical usage for charging. Not doing the calculations, but there are local and state taxes on electrical usage.
Probably not the same amount, just an overlooked tax.
yes, agree, and also, at least here in CA, there is a state tax on gasoline too, nd, the CA DMV is already "taxing" EVs via registration fee(s) ...
Of course the cradle to grave pollution of evs is less than ice cars. That should be the “free ride”.
So you think the government should just do without the lost income of the federal gasoline tax?
I’m fine with that, just more than doubtful of it
Someone on reddit said $250 would get them around 36,000 miles worth of gas. That's over 3x what I currently drive. If they really needed the tax revenue instead of just sticking it to EV owners, they would replace the gas tax with a $250 registration fee for ICE vehicles too.
“When you use the bucket tool but somewhere the lines weren’t connected.”
Yes, we do need to pay, but as you pointed out, we don't need to pay more than what we paid in the past without increasing what ICE vehicles pay.
I'm not sure how they would work it out, since not all cities/towns/counties are required to do inspections. But for those that are, the state should collect the (Federal/state/county) fees based off of mileage and drop the taxes on gasoline/diesel. This would be the only fair way to do this. If they want to do it by a factor of GVW and mileage, I won't complain. This removes fuel type from the equation. We would still be overpaying, since we pay taxes on electrical usage, not sure how to solve that one.
The only issue is, not every vehicle in the US is inspected, and who's going to pay for this inspection. In NY we have to pay for inspections, in NJ it is a state function (but you can go to a private facility). I have never been a fan of private facilities doing inspections, as they are motivated to fail you... I had a motorcycle shop fail me with legal tread left saying, "it could wear down below the legal limit by the time you make it home." It is not legal for them to assume anything, does the vehicle currently meet the minimum standards of the law, that's it. They also only do inspections one day of the week, for half of their business day. If you have the bike in their shop, they will inspect anytime. So again, a conflict...
Another thing they could do is collect a lifetime of taxes on the sale of a vehicle. A sales tax that is collected on the change of title. When you sell it, you get a credit towards the sales tax of the new vehicle. All handled by the agency that currently collects your vehicle sales tax. Collect all Federal/State/County/City taxes at once. This could be rolled into the financing if purchased at a dealer.
There would have to be a study to determine how much should be collected, how much would be credited (either rolled into a new vehicle, or cash amount refunded) on the sale of the vehicle, and how much the next owner pays based on already used mileage. The other part that would need to be accounted for is the return of funds for vehicles taken off the road (totaled). A new process would go into effect for salvaged vehicles (start all over with a salvaged title tax).
Isn't the Fed Gas Tax to pay for interstate highways? Maybe they would be better off putting up tolls on the interstate and collect money via actual usage of said roads instead.
In the UK there is an annual inspection of all cars once its three year anniversary of first registration has occurred.
This test checks tyres, brakes, lights, suspension and a few other things.
Costs around £40. On an ICE vehicle they also test your emissions.
You then pay car tax. This was free on EV’s until this year, and a sliding scale on ICE vehicles depending on engine size and emissions. This can still be free on a small ICE car like Mrs AFB Kia Picanto. Goes up to around £400 for a gas guzzler.
There is also a luxury car tax for the first 5 years for each car over £40k RRP (not what you paid for it). It’s around £400 or so.
Oh and insurance. That’s an other £300-400 minimum.
Then we pay VAT on electric (or fuel). So 20%.
In other words the Government is doing okay considering they fix most of the pot holes with straw and cow poo.
Whatever you drive it costs you. Add in repairs and depreciation and it looks even worse. But there really isn’t any alternative for most.
This test checks tyres, brakes, lights, suspension and a few other things.
Costs around £40. On an ICE vehicle they also test your emissions.
You then pay car tax. This was free on EV’s until this year, and a sliding scale on ICE vehicles depending on engine size and emissions. This can still be free on a small ICE car like Mrs AFB Kia Picanto. Goes up to around £400 for a gas guzzler.
There is also a luxury car tax for the first 5 years for each car over £40k RRP (not what you paid for it). It’s around £400 or so.
Oh and insurance. That’s an other £300-400 minimum.
Then we pay VAT on electric (or fuel). So 20%.
In other words the Government is doing okay considering they fix most of the pot holes with straw and cow poo.
Whatever you drive it costs you. Add in repairs and depreciation and it looks even worse. But there really isn’t any alternative for most.
You can get an equinox ev for 20k base model fwd with Fed/state incentives + costco. So new company needs to seriously undercut that.
I realize it’s a controversial topic and doubt that there will ever be a “solution” that everyone agrees with, I am just trying to prepare myself manually that this will change, one way or the other.
Of course there would be a solution that would please everyone: no taxes at all
But that’s not gonna happen in my lifetimeThe govt. doesn't, local councils are responsible for repairing those, except for motorways and some major highways, but ours is bankrupt and the huge potholes left unattended means driving is akin to slalom skiing these days.
If you wreck your vehicle going over one or injure yourself, the days of suing the council are also over. You can just join the long list of unsecured creditors.
Birmingham? I work there. One road I use would challenge most off roaders.
Crossclimate 2 and Rally Armor mud guards:
I agree. If you use the roads, you should be paying to use them- ICE vehicles obviously pay through gas/diesel taxes. EV’s theoretically wear out the roads faster due to their heavier weight compared to similar ICE vehicles, instant torque, and regenerative braking.
How you implement such a system isn’t as easy as taxing fuel, which is a reasonably fair system- the more gas you use, the more taxes you pay. Since every state has different policies regarding inspections, perhaps just charging a flat tax annually is the easiest option.
All that said, there is a balance in promoting EVs as a technology. There’s already a lot of incentives and adoption has been relatively tepid. When to implement such taxes should be considered.
When I bought my Tesla there was a 7.5k federal credit and a 4.5k state credit. The government was trying to drive adoption.
On one hand they give and the other hand they take. When Evs have price point parity and range of ice vehicles, some type of fair road and infrastructure use tax should be put into place.
Since evs don’t use gas though it shouldn’t be taxed like an ice vehicle. The trade off is less pollution which benefits all.
While we see this specuation everywhere, I have yet to see any actual data or science that demonstrates EVs cause any extra wear compared to ICE. The narrative that EVs are much heavier is an exaggeration at best.
Lightest Tesla Model Y: 3,582 lbs
Lightest Toyota RAV 4: 3,370 lbs
Base model Subaru Forester: 3,449 lbs
Base model BMW X5: 4,540 lbs
Base model Kia Sportage Hybrid: 3,532 lbs
All the modeling I have seen actually shows that even heavier, larger consumer vehicles are not a significant source of wear.
What is? Trucking. Trucks destroy our roads.
While the gas tax seems to be both simple and fair (pay to play), and yes, EVs need to pay their fair share too...the facts show that we (drivers buying gas) are actually subsidising trucking logistics and infrastructure. To be truly fair, trucking would pay much more...and gas taxes for vehicles with lower weights per axle would be greatly reduced or nearly eliminated, but that cost would be passed on to consumers with added costs for all truck freight passed through to the products they move.
We would all still be paying, but more fairly, with higher costs on products, and less consumer fuel taxes. We would have a consumption tax on things moved via truck, not on how many gallons of fuel or KW of power we buy.
I don't for a minute think this would be easy or popular to enact. But the point is, EVs are not the problem, heavy trucks are.
Most who propose high taxes on EVs due to "excessive wear and damage to roads" are using a straw man argument to support ICE and disincentivize and even demonize EVs.
Tolls on roads are the only sane way to do taxes based on usage. Plus it captures folks that are "out of towners" which a flat registration tax misses. I do most of my driving in VA even though I live in NC, don't pay any fuel taxes in VA for my road usage. Think of all the out of state plates for all the military folk in the Hampton Roads area.
In the downstate NY area, I think the biggest thing that damages roads are plows and freezing after moisture gets under the patch repairs. I haven't seen the asphalt wear away or overly compress from vehicle tires. The other thing that damages the roads is the use of salt/sand pre-storm, especially when the storm doesn't produce enough snow to wash the salt off.
I think if there is a federal tax applied annually but collected through registration, it is better than tolls. It should be removed from gas/diesel and applied across the board to every vehicle. Yes, tolls get out of state people, but that applies to state maintained highways/bridges (even if it is a federal highway). Every vehicle would already be federally taxed through state registration. States should also do this through registration, and keep tolls the way they are, to pay for bridges/tunnels and state-maintained roads.
This would be "fuel" type agnostic and future proof as new types of "fuels" are developed.
I think if there is a federal tax applied annually but collected through registration, it is better than tolls. It should be removed from gas/diesel and applied across the board to every vehicle. Yes, tolls get out of state people, but that applies to state maintained highways/bridges (even if it is a federal highway). Every vehicle would already be federally taxed through state registration. States should also do this through registration, and keep tolls the way they are, to pay for bridges/tunnels and state-maintained roads.
This would be "fuel" type agnostic and future proof as new types of "fuels" are developed.