New Bill in Senate to Kill EV Tax Credit + $1000 tax on every new EV

[majorfriend]

Tennessee is missing from that list. We do not require inspections.

And CO

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[Rade]

Not great, but I don't disagree the Feds and states need to find a way to make up for declining gas tax revenue.

I have to agree, though I think the measure is still a bit premature. But then again, this is not an administration keen on EV's.

Here in RI, we had implemented tolls on the Interstates that pass through the state. Currently aimed at commercial / semi's hauling freight over our roads. I think that should be expanded to include all vehicles. We had the gantries installed along the East Bay, and charged (I recall) a WHOPPING $0.25 for vehicles to use a newly constructed bridge. "OH! We can't have THAT here!" and they tore down the gantries. How in the good f**k are we supposed to pay for future repairs to the systems?

 

[entsurv]

As I have been told in the past, not every state requires annual inspections where your odometer is read and forwarded to the state. With that in mind, charging by miles driven would prove difficult if not impossible.

According to Google AI:
Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming do not require regular vehicle inspections.

Also Colorado and Tennessee (according to informed sources)

But the Feds put conditions on doling out money to the states all the time. So requiring states to have annual inspections to receive highway money would not be unreasonable. (and even with minimal inspections like we have here in NC might make the highways marginally safer) Tracking total mileage without identifying specific routes is hardly intrusive and a cost of less than a penny a mile (federal) and pennies a mile (state) should be easy to sell.

 

[SDH]

I have no issue paying the tax up front when I renew my road tax. Afterall, our heavy beasts damage the road just like other cars. Yes, perhaps ICE cars pay a gas tax on top.

My issue with paying up front is this: I pay for 12 months in January, then I sell my car in February but get zero refund for the remaining 11 months. Meanwhile, taxman gets another 12months from the new buyer.

 

[PVguy]

Yes, but why should the first owner pay all of that when there will be multiple owners throughout the vehicles life?

Every vehicle has to be registered annually, simply add the Fed tax with each annual registration for all vehicles then the fed gas tax can be deleted.

I am and never have been opposed to paying My Fair Share of vehicle/road tax. However, under the current situation, I feel the urge to resist any such efforts. For a hundred years fossil fuel companies have benefited from federal subsidies. Not to mention the avoided costs of their products. All while raking in record profits. Did you read about what Chevron did recently?
All these vehicles are connected. An annual tax based upon miles driven is the only fair way. For those not connected….well, I am open to suggestions. Paying a lump sum is totally unfair. They are trying to make a political statement and I do not like that.

 

[Roads76]

More likey they just picked a nice round number, I doubt they care if it's a fair amount. That would take a clearer understanding of the issue, and that's takes time and effort.

 

[savethemanual]

I am and never have been opposed to paying My Fair Share of vehicle/road tax. However, under the current situation, I feel the urge to resist any such efforts. For a hundred years fossil fuel companies have benefited from federal subsidies. Not to mention the avoided costs of their products. All while raking in record profits. Did you read about what Chevron did recently?
All these vehicles are connected. An annual tax based upon miles driven is the only fair way. For those not connected….well, I am open to suggestions. Paying a lump sum is totally unfair. They are trying to make a political statement and I do not like that.

100 percent, this bill is all about anti EV. If there were true thought behind it, they would factor in more and more EV's will be on the road in the coming decades and just take away the gas tax completely...switching to an annual fee for all vehicles with the required registration.

 

[Rivian Owner]

In economics there is something called present value of money and opportunity costs. So basically the idea is; my money is tied up when I pay the $1000, for the sake of this example, for the next 10 years of road taxes. My money in the last year (year 10), if we spread the $1000 equally over the 10 years, is sitting in government hands (if the politicians don't raid the fund to make themselves look good) rather than allowing me to utilize the money or just earn interest on the money for 9 years. So your $100 dollars for year 10 could have made you money vs helping a politician's image. Obviously the returns are diminished for each of the previous years, but you get my point.

This tax is unfair in that it robs EV drivers of that opportunity cost vs ICE drivers who pay as they go. I realize that EVs aren't really taxable in the same dollar per gallon basis that ICE vehicles experience but this isn't the answer from an economist's perspective.

Therefore to be fair to everyone and to make sure the dollars are available in year 10 vs all being squandered by fiscally irresponsible politicians in the first year or two (look at Social Security as an example) is to collect the tax on all vehicles on a yearly basis.

I also have a problem with this bill based on my understanding that it does nothing to address the fees the states are already charging for EV registrations. If the bill doesn't limit the state's ability to tax EVs at a higher rate than ICE vehicles, then clearly the fees are meant to be punitive and aren't meant to "level the playing field". This bill is just another push by the fossil fuel funded politicians to limit the shrinking market of their benefactors.

 

[bigsky]

Not great, but I don't disagree the Feds and states need to find a way to make up for declining gas tax revenue.

Most states already have found a way, just so you know through levying capricious and arbitrary fees to "make up" for that loss in gas tax revenue. So much so that now ICE owners are the ones mooching off the roads, or another way of looking at it, EV owners in those states already pay A LOT more, and it is not based on fair usage by any means. Au contraire!

 

[Invzibl]

Isn't this administration finding a ton of wasted spending on stuff? Maybe they should take a considerable chunk of that money, which is being "wasted" according to them, and spend it on infrastructure like road upkeep and such. Those are the kinds of things our already individual giant tax responsibility should be used for. IMO.

Even when all of these departments and programs are eliminated or reduced, the tax base amount will remain the same. We are not getting any of it back. They might as well do something with it that would improve things for all Americans, right?

Here's another thought, maybe the way it has been historically worked for years, utilizing a gas tax, isn't the best way to fund roads. Maybe someone can think outside the "what we have always done" box and come up with a better way.

I know here in Michigan, the gas tax and state lottery funds were going to be used for schools and roads. Neither of which has reaped enough benefit from those plans....

 

[bigsky]

I understand the road repairs and the $1000 is not crazy. The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents a gallon, that is like driving 108k miles at 20 miles a gallon.

Now let’s chip into the estimated 20 billion annually provided to the fossil fuel industries who are raking in huge profits.

2023 profit of just the top 3 oil companies
Exxon 36 billion
Shell 28 billion
Chevron 21 billion

Many EV owners may not rack up even half that many miles on an EV, especially those who own several EVs. So yes, this $1,000 proposed tax is totally idiotic and stupid crazy. And we get taxed on the electricity also.

 

[drift]

Those are the diesel delete states.

Hardly a lot of states on that list are not diesel delete states. Diesel has nothing to do with it.

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

Yeah, the Fed gas tax is going to need to be figured out for sure. I think it should be eliminated completely & replaced with a tax on all vehicles based on how many miles driven annually. This proposal of paying lifetime of gas tax upfront isn't going to work. Many states are already charging an extra fee for EV's with their annual plate renewal.

Miles driven is an unreliable metric that will cost more in enforcement, resulting in losses on top of the revenue added. A more accurate measure would be taxing based on vehicle weight, as increasing weight causes exponentially more roadway damage.

 

[savethemanual]

Miles driven is an unreliable metric that will cost more in enforcement, resulting in losses on top of the revenue added. A more accurate measure would be taxing based on vehicle weight, as increasing weight causes exponentially more roadway damage.

Yes, agreed it would be difficult to track mileage. Perhaps a baseline fee on average miles driven per capita...and have the option to prove real mileage if one drives much less.

In regards to vehicle weights, a friend of mine works for the state highway dept. He says anything under 10k lbs is pretty much negligible in trying to differentiate, it's the large vehicles which require CDL's that do the most of the damage.

 

[eloyR]

https://www.reuters.com/business/au...tax-new-ev-sales-pay-road-repairs-2025-02-12/

The USA has the worng target. EV's are not the problem here. Oil subsides are.

• In 2022, the US government's fossil fuel subsidies totaled $757 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund
  
  
• The Environmental and Energy Study Institute reports that direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry total $20 billion per year, with 80% going toward oil and gas

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