Lately I have been becoming aware of certain states charging extra government "taxes and fees" for registering a Tesla or non-Tesla EV. While it is true that gasoline taxes cover a portion of local highway road repairs, EV owners do not share in collecting this fee at the pumps. Luckily in NY we have no such penalties. Wondering how other states are handling this and what might be the future plans for states not currently charging extra taxes and fees for EVs. Seems a bit disjointed that nonpolluting EV owners should pay a penalty for helping save the planet.
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Does your state charge you a penalty for owning a Tesla?
- Thread starter mm9351
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ATPMSD
Active Member
It depends on how you define penalty. Charging an EV a fee in an attempt to ensure we pay our fair share of the highway taxes is not a penalty, at least to me. The method of determining the amount of the fee is often questionable. In Georgia, the fee is $210 annually and is based on the taxes paid by the average ICE car.
I think most Tesla owners see a ”Tesla Tax” when an electrician runs a 240v circuit, if they know it is for a Tesla.
Utah charges a fee on registration. It is ramping up each year, in 2024 it is $138.50 in addition to the normal registration fees. They have also proposed making it more(it's already more than a car getting 22mpg driving 40k miles per year) AND they are adding another tax on EV charging.
It's extremely excessive. I have no problem paying my fair share, but I dont drive a vehicle 40k miles per year, nor do I drive a car that gets 22mpg.
It's extremely excessive. I have no problem paying my fair share, but I dont drive a vehicle 40k miles per year, nor do I drive a car that gets 22mpg.
shahryaran
Member
Isn't it $175/year in California? The fee you pay is a combination of registration, property tax (whatever it's called) and an EV fee.
(For some reason California doesn't make it obvious how much the property tax component is . In Maine and several other New England states it's a series of set percentages of MSRP. In Maine it starts with 2.4% in year 1 and falls to 0.4% in year 6+.)
ATPMSD
Active Member
I have seen some talk on assessing a “tax” on a per kWh basis, something like $0.05 / kWh. Easy to do with “commercial“ stations but the sticking point seems to be with home chargers.
How might this work: Say you drive 10,000 miles in a year, apply an average of 3 miles / kWh and you would pay about $165 / year. Drive more you pay more, drive less and you pay less.
How might this work: Say you drive 10,000 miles in a year, apply an average of 3 miles / kWh and you would pay about $165 / year. Drive more you pay more, drive less and you pay less.
The problem of electricity being used for so many things has governments already reject taxing electricity. I know that has happened in the UK. We see here some taxes on public charging. But then you have the problem that anybody who relies on public charging pays even more to charge.
Some people think roads should be treated as a public good, but everybody else who treats it as a service understands that there should be some combination of fixed fees and road pricing. Government is just putting off the big shift by lazily putting fixed fees on EVs.
shahryaran
Member
And how do those break down?
(On our Registrations it's really obvious as the different fees are printed on the Registration.)
We pay $140 going to $180 per year for 2024 in NC.
We pay 40 cents a gallon. So it is arguably close to 2 cents a mile. That would be 9k miles to make it even which is certainly lower than average.
Now - we do pay 7% on electricity. So about 7 cents for 8 kwh or 24 miles. So add another .3 cents per mile.
Overall - it it reasonable but not ideal. Certainly states whose governments care about the environment and have the money should not charge an EV fee. There are few of those around.
We pay 40 cents a gallon. So it is arguably close to 2 cents a mile. That would be 9k miles to make it even which is certainly lower than average.
Now - we do pay 7% on electricity. So about 7 cents for 8 kwh or 24 miles. So add another .3 cents per mile.
Overall - it it reasonable but not ideal. Certainly states whose governments care about the environment and have the money should not charge an EV fee. There are few of those around.
CA charges an extra fee -- or tax, if you prefer -- on EV registrations, but I certainly would not consider it a "penalty"
Weight and mileage, that's what it should be. The purpose of the tax is to pay for roads, and the amount of damage your car does to the roads is a factor of weight and mileage.
They should measure those every time you pay for registration and charge accordingly.
ATPMSD
Active Member
Based on your argument, EVs will pay more than ICE cars since they weight a lot more.
Ackman999
Member
Michigan extra fees on 2022 M3 LR
Electric Registration Fee Passenger $100
Electric Registration Tax Passenger $48
Electric Registration Fee Passenger $100
Electric Registration Tax Passenger $48
Based on your argument, EVs will pay more than ICE cars since they weight a lot more.
Nah... weight AND mileage. I read somewhere about the amount of damage a car does vs a loaded trailer... those 80k lb trailers (not even counting the truck) are significant contributors to degrading the roads, far more than passenger vehicles.
Probably the weight would actually be classed, not an exact measurement done each year. Most EVs will still be in the lighter passenger vehicle segment.
ATPMSD
Active Member
As an EV owner we need to assume we drive the same as we would in an ICE car. Thus, if an EV and ICE car travel the same distance the EV will pay more since it weights more.
I would hope this would be true, but this is of course pure speculation. As are all of the potential solutions.
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