WA Senate passes $100 annual electric car fee

[Zextraterrestrial]

Oil, diesel and gasoline dripping on asphalt does make it unravel and wear much faster. Has anyone considered this w/respect to EVs not leaking and dripping all over the place. It is mostly older cars and trucks that are 'leaky' but many newer cars are junk and do leak too. just look at the asphalt under a car or especially a diesel truck that has been dripping - you wont see that under an EV

 

[Jaff]

Leave it to the socialists to come up with this crap now.

In fairness, someday, this will need to happen...probably should have waited until a critical mass number of EV's are on the road though...are these WA senators blue haired, condo boardmembers as well? :wink::biggrin:

 

[Doug_G]

Leave it to the socialists to come up with this crap now.

In fairness, someday, this will need to happen...probably should have waited until a critical mass number of EV's are on the road though...are these WA senators blue haired, condo boardmembers as well? :wink::biggrin:

You're right, the WA senators all secretly live in an Ottawa condominium so they can enjoy torturing Volt owners.

 

[Jaff]

This makes complete sense Zex, which is why the politicos will never adopt it! :wink::biggrin:

(It's just like the market value assessment method of setting property taxes...those who look after their property upkeep are rewarded with higher property taxes...those who let their property upkeep go, have lower property taxes)...

Oil, diesel and gasoline dripping on asphalt does make it unravel and wear much faster. Has anyone considered this w/respect to EVs not leaking and dripping all over the place. It is mostly older cars and trucks that are 'leaky' but many newer cars are junk and do leak too. just look at the asphalt under a car or especially a diesel truck that has been dripping - you wont see that under an EV

 

[Dan5]

Now that I really think about it
Here's the pros and cons of each of these


Flat tax on EVs-
Pros -can's cheat
Cons - Unfairly high for the wear an EV puts on the road, not based on mileage, probably more expensive to administer than can be brought in, discourages EV purchases
Tire tax -
Pros- This would be for all cars- get rid of gasoline tax
Cons- Easy to cheat, just go to a state without the tax, Puts more taxes on people who take their cars to the track or race, Encourages unsafe driving (paying more for tires, maybe I'll squeeze another 10,000 miles out of the tires)
Energy tax
Pros- based on energy usage (corresponds to mileage), hard to cheat if fueling at home, encourages energy efficient behavior beyond EVs
Cons- Affects all renters and home owners (hits up unaffected people for an extra $10-$20/month on an energy bill), self sufficient in terms of energy means no taxes

For the Energy tax, in order to not affect the non-EV owners is to normalize everyone's bill over a certain number of years, any increase would be taxed as EV energy (no perfect- but a rough estimation). There would still be "cheating" and people who would get dinged for not having an EV (EV owner getting a AC unit going from a SEER 6 to a SEER 24, non-EV person having a baby, upgraded computer, upgrade electronics, etc)

 

[Jaff]

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:...greates minds of the 20th century! :biggrin::biggrin:

You're right, the WA senators all secretly live in an Ottawa condominium so they can enjoy torturing Volt owners.

 

[Mycroft]

There's no way around it. We're going to end up with a flat tax unless they decide to let us take them into a smog testing center to get the mileage. Basing it on mileage would be a lot better IMO. PHEVs make out like bandits if they can go without gassing up most of the time.

 

[EVNow]

PHEVs make out like bandits if they can go without gassing up most of the time.

But they don't get sales tax exemption (that is worth a lot more than $100 fee per annum) ?

BTW, the current gas tax is not adequate to maintain the road infrastructure. That is why they have to resort to tolls or special taxes to build another bridge or tunnel.

 

[Lloyd]

But they don't get sales tax exemption (that is worth a lot more than $100 fee per annum) ?

BTW, the current gas tax is not adequate to maintain the road infrastructure. That is why they have to resort to tolls or special taxes to build another bridge or tunnel.

That's because they don't spend it on the roads that it was intended to maintain!

 

[dsm363]

Every state and the federal government should have an infrastructure bank that is untouchable by the state legislature or congress in terms of funneling the money somewhere else. It could be directed by a panel of politicians, civil engineers, city planners...etc but all funds would be directed only for infrastructure and all projects would be subject to audit. Of course if some corruption-proof system existed, I'd be amazed but the current system obviously doesn't fund our infrastructure needs and a gas tax or $100 EV fee isn't working.

 

[Dan5]

Every state and the federal government should have an infrastructure bank that is untouchable by the state legislature.

I wish that was the case, in NJ, the transportation "trust" fund has been raided for decades to "buy votes" for both parties to the point where any major projects have to have bonds out and any money collected via the gasoline tax just goes to pay the interest on the debt. That's the most irritating part of it.

 

[vfx]

Raise the gas tax 1 cent for every 1000 EVs sold.

 

[tdelta1000]

Washington State senate passes $100 annual fee for electric vehicles

According to an Autoblog article:

Washington State's senate has passed a bill that would impose an annual fee of $100 to electric-vehicle drivers in an effort to compensate for the gas taxes that EV drivers don't pay, the Associated Press reported.

The fee, which doesn't apply to hybrids or neighborhood-electric vehicles, will be used for road services that would be otherwise paid through gas taxes. Washington charges 37.5 cents a gallon in fuel taxes. The bill, which passed by a two-to-one margin, will next be voted on by the state's house of representatives, the wire service said.

Senate Bill 5251 was introduced about a year ago by Mary Haugen, the Senate's transportation committee chairwoman, as a way to compensate for the fact that EVs put the same wear and tear on state roads as conventional vehicles do. The fee is about half of what a typical Washington state driver pays in gas taxes, and would add as much as $1.9 million to the state's budget by 2017.

Many cash-strapped states are trying to figure out how to ensure that more consumer interest in electric vehicles won't translate into lost state revenues because of less gas taxes. Some Arizona legislators earlier this month proposed taxing EV drivers as much as 1.43 cents per driven mile. That state in January repealed an emissions program that incentivized more alt-fuel vehicle use after just one year. Oregon and Kansas are among other states looking at EV-related fees.

I'm a at a loss...What happens to oil independence?

 

[tdelta1000]

I guess it comes at a price....

 

[Lloyd]

I guess it comes at a price....

Now talking about adopting fees in other states!

How should we tax electric vehicles? - The Globe and Mail

 

[Trnsl8r]

I'm confused. What does the little license plate sticker I buy from DMV every year pay for? Not roads? Just grumpy employees that let you wait for hours?

 

[grisnjam]

Washington Passes Electric Car Tax, But Cheaper Than A Gas Car

FYI.

 

[Dave EV]

Washington Passes Electric Car Tax, But Cheaper Than A Gas Car

Depends highly on your definition of "cheaper" - the fuel economy of the car you're comparing it to and how many miles you drive that car/year.

 

[Ardie]

Here in California, there are *always* lawmakers on the prowl for more revenue, daring to go where no tax has ever gone before.
There are always a bunch of bills in the hopper attempting to to bring in more money in every way possible, except the dreaded words"tax increase." So they use alternative language to create new taxes, new fees, or higher fees, but certainly not "higher taxes."

Every budget year we are reminded of the scandalous amount of public money that has been frittered away, and that drastic budget slashing must be done. ("Voluntarily place your head on the block please.") The California school system is a favorite poster child of fiscal ineptitude, and is always a target. However, the equally spendthrifty California Transportation Department (Caltrans) has avoided this. Somehow (don't ask me how, I don't know) Caltrans got their budget removed from the State of California budget debate, probably by securing a separate and inviolate source of revenue.

Since Caltrans isn't a political hot potato for funding, I don't really expect to see new taxes popping up on tires, windshield wipers, brake pads, or radiator fluid.
The primary source of revenue for California to play with are the DMV fees. Currently California uses the expedient metric of "ability to pay" as the basis for the fee. That is, it is based on the retail price of the vehicle, or the Kelley Blue Book value of said vehicle. You can afford a Maserati? Then you can afford a whopping DMV fee. Its that simple.
But that value isn't cast in stone. Perhaps some of you remember when governors in the past actually *refunded* some of the DMV fees, rather than leave the dough in the general fund where every government employee was trying to find at least three ways to spend it. And perhaps some of you can remember when that same DMV fee was used as a vehicle to make up a revenue shortfall. I secretly harbor a suspicion that the annual registration fees are based on the results of a secret, but lively game of darts.
Sadly, in my crystal ball, I see a DMV registration bill that has an itemized list similar to the items I find on my property tax bill. Base value. ++ for automatic transmission. ++ for air conditioning. ++ for trailer hitch. ++ as the car ages, not -- as it currently is now. And the HOV sticker. I'm sure they will find a way to increase the price on those babies, and how.

-- Ardie
"Dear car owner, Enclosed you will find your HOV transponder."

 

[Lloyd]

Sadly I agree with Ardie and see many in California, obtaining license and registration in another state. It is a PITA, but at what cost is it worth it??