I don't understand how this could result in lower EV sales, per se. Consumers either pay the tax on gasoline or this $110 on EVs. How is that changing anything???

 

For most of us, the $110/year for EVs is a LOT more than what we would have paid in gas taxes for the same miles driven.

 

I know I'm an exception but I've put only 7,500 miles on my 2021 2 LE in nearly 5 years. At 25 MPG, that would have been about 300 gallons in a gas car over that same time period. Delaware has a $0.23/gallon gas tax, so that would have been $69 in gas tax paid over those 7,500 miles, whereas the EV tax would be $550. That's not an insignificant difference. The problem here is that the gas tax is paid roughly per miles driven whereas the EV tax is flat per annum regardless of miles driven. (all of the above presumes my rough math isn't too far off).

 

Post edited. I just realized that you only put 7,500 miles in 5 years. You are the 3+Sigma exception. While no one commutes to work in our family, we average about 10K miles per year per car. So for us, it works out perfectly. The Honda Crosstour gives us about 20MPG (mostly used on the highway), so that's about 500 gallons. That equates to about $115.

 

It's $214.50/year in NC. I did the calculation a while back and determined it you'd need to drive around 18K miles/year to pay that much gas tax which is more about 6 times as much as I drive.

I don't have a problem with the concept, but it would be much more fair to charge it by mileage driven, rather than a flat fee.

 

I would be much more in favor of an end-of-year EV tax based on miles driven based on odometer differences. They could allow EV drivers to opt in to submitting (verified) odometer readings at the start of each tax year to calculate miles driven versus paying a flat tax. So everyone would pay the flat tax by default but if you choose to allow them to log your odometer each year, then you pay only the miles driven instead.

 

And here in NC the odometer reading is already taken by the state every year during the annual state inspection, so the data is already available.

 

Yeah. This is going to be annoying for our family living in Delaware. Between my wife and myself, we drive a Polestar 3, a hybrid Tundra, and a PHEV Mazda. All will have an annual fee, regardless of the fact my hybrid Tundra still pays just as much gas taxes as any other Tundra as the MPG is still only ~18. Seems like a disingenuous interpretation of a solution to me.

 

The info I got indicates hybrids will also be charged a (somewhat less) extra fee!

 

For what it's worth New Zealand is moving away from tax on gas, to a road usage charge based on distance travelled and vehicle weight regardless of drivetrain. I believe the first country to do this?

He pūnaha utu mō ngā kaiwhakamahi rori | Road User Charges system

www.transport.govt.nz

 

Very cool place! I wish it wasn’t so far away

 

$225 here in GA, which would equal 23,000 miles a year in my previous car.

Also 3 cents per KWH in charging tax.

 

For the UK, it's approx a £25 Billion revenue loss in fuel excise duty. Definitely something that will hit EVs sooner rather than later - although we're not sure how it will be done yet.

 

For the UK, it's approx a £25 Billion revenue loss in fuel excise duty. Definitely something that will hit EVs sooner rather than later although we're not sure how it will be done yet.

UK Petrol duty is about 53p/litre plus 20% vat on top! Current price is around £1.40/litre (I think . . . I no longer pay close attention ) So vat is about 23p + 53p duty = 76p = about 54% total tax.

Whatever your politics, this is a huge source of revenue for the UK taxman and will have to be recovered from somewhere. Given the complications of applying it to EV fuel - ie electricity - my bet is on some form road pricing or mileage tax, because this would be relatively easy to implement and could be 'sold' as being fair for all car users regardless of their fuel.

Personally, I think taxing personal mobility is a travesty, but that's a whole other conversation!

 

Colorado has a similar annual EV fee added to the registration, but somewhat reasonable at $50.

 

My 2 cents, so take it for what it's worth.

Public roads benefit everyone, whether or not you're a driver, passenger, or sitting at home waiting for a delivery, etc. No doubt that tax revenue is needed to maintain the roads, should just be a universal tax that applies to everyone, perhaps an extra charge for trucking companies since their vehicles spend more time on the road and cause more wear & tear than the "civilian" drivers.

 

I think it should be: annual mileage * weight * tax factor. Probably makes sense to have weight "brackets" too, since road damage is cubed based on weight.

Get rid of the gas tax and apply the annual tax to everyone regardless of 'fuel' type. Would also have the benefit of encouraging smaller, more efficient, safer vehicles.

 

In such political climes around the world, good luck hoping any of the sane suggestions posted on this board will ever come to fruition

 

Thing is, we all benefit from modern countries with a well-developed infrastructure, defence, essential services etc and all these things cost a lot of money and taxation is the only option, which is fair enough. Yes, differing political persuations may argue about the extent of expenditure on such things but there will still be a price to pay, which is also fair enough.

But why not just have a single tax instead of a myriad of taxes on this and taxes on that, with all the social engineering that often accompanies so many different taxes? Why not simply fund the cost of running the country from income tax? Sure, it's likely to be fairly high but we already pay a high percentage of tax only it is hidden away and not always easy to immediately grasp the full extent of overall taxation. Eg (in the UK), basic income tax is 20%, so that's Monday we work for the taxman. If you earn more than around £50k then you pay an extra 20% income tax, so that's Tuesday working for the taxman. Then there is 13-ish% national insurance, so that Wednesday morning and into the early afternoon working for the taxman and all of income you never see because it's deducted at source (for the vast majority).

From Wednesday early afternoon you at least know how much income you have made that week, but the taxations doesn't stop there because not only do you pay tax on what you earn but you pay tax on what you spend. Top of the list must be 'value added tax' (often called 'sales tax'), which is currently 20% on almost everything you buy . . . except that it's effectively MORE than 20% because it is paid out of your already-taxed income! So, that takes you to about Thursday midday working for the taxman. Then, roughly speaking, there's additional taxes on car fuel, insurance policies, air passenger duty, alcohol and tobacco taxes, etc, so let's say that's the remainder of Thursday working for the taxman. And all that is without considering things like capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes etc.

All of which leaves Friday when you're actually working for yourself, ie something around 80% of everything you earn ending up in the taxman's coffers. In fact, if you think about it, even that remaining money you spend ends up with the taxman because it becomes income for the person or company you paid and they then have to pay their own tax on it!

What's that old saying about death and taxes?

 

It's a disincentive by bought-and-paid-for politicians beholden to the fossil fuel industry. It's $200 in Texas.

 

Really? So this has nothing to do with the revenue states are losing on gasoline not purchased, but some conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry?

 

Really? So this has nothing to do with the revenue states are losing on gasoline not purchased, but some conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry?

Follow the money. Fossil fuels need to be phased out to save the planet. This is the pi

Really? So this has nothing to do with the revenue states are losing on gasoline not purchased, but some conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry?

Really? So this has nothing to do with the revenue states are losing on gasoline not purchased, but some conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry?

The primary goal of creating alternative fuel vehicles is to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. That is a primary reason most of us purchase them. If you, as a politician, share those goals, you legislate incentives to achieve them. If you don't, and your campaign donationd come from the fossil fuel industry, you legislate against that objective.
Highway construction and maintenance has traditionally been financed by taxes on fossil fuels. You can either increase the tax on fossil fuels to more accurately reflect their damage to the planet and signal a goal to move to alternative fuels or you can tax the alternative fuel vehicles to accomplish the opposite.
This is not rocket science. It's politics.

 

Follow the money. Fossil fuels need to be phased out to save the planet. This is the pi


The primary goal of creating alternative fuel vehicles is to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. That is a primary reason most of us purchase them. If you, as a politician, share those goals, you legislate incentives to achieve them. If you don't, and your campaign donationd come from the fossil fuel industry, you legislate against that objective.
Highway construction and maintenance has traditionally been financed by taxes on fossil fuels. You can either increase the tax on fossil fuels to more accurately reflect their damage to the planet and signal a goal to move to alternative fuels or you can tax the alternative fuel vehicles to accomplish the opposite.
This is not rocket science. It's politics.

And you need money to maintain infrastructure. Taking your position to the extreme, let's say that the taxes on fossil fuel are raised so high that everyone switches over to EVs. How will the money to maintain the road infrastructure be raised? Or are you saying that no one should be driving? Delaware is NOT legislating against EVs. They are trying to bridge a gap in the budget. This is not politics, just basic bookkeeping.

 

For Pennsylvania it is $200 in 2025, $250 in 2026, Tied to Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase thereafter.

Plug-in hybrid EV owners will pay a flat annual fee equal to 25% of the EV fee.

While I fully support EV owners contributing their fair share to maintaining roads, this is a punitive GOP tax. I drive less than 10k per year, I will now be paying the equivalent of an ICE vehicle driving 25k mikes a year. Likewise, the ICE fuel tax does not automatically increase each year.

PA records mileage every year at both registration and stste inspection, there is no reason this tax could not be based on actual miles driven.

 

The Delaware version gets better and better. I purchased my PS3 out of state on 9/2/25. I hoped they would register it by 10/1 so I could register it without the AFV fee, but they are dragging their heels at the DMV and “aim to process it within 90 days.” Crap timing, but I guess I get the extra $150/year. So it goes.

 

Quebec is going to implement something similar soon. But I drive 45-50,000km/yr and gas taxes are VERY high here—vs my X-Terra, I’m saving around 11,000$/yr in fuel costs for the same distance. It would have to be a seriously high tax to make a difference to me. Even if I drove 45% as far (the average around here), the fee would need to be four figures to be a problem.