EV Tax Penalty

[Fclmd]

I just renewed my Oklahoma State state license plates, and now there’s a new $400 EV tax that owners of electric vehicles must pay in addition to the usual registration fee every time they renew their license plates.
I know I did not vote for this.

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[SlaterGS]

$200 EV tax for my Leaf
$200 EV tax for my Rivian R1S
$100 Hybrid tax for my Pacifica
Not having to go the gas station practically ever? Priceless

That being said, it's absolute BS.

 

[PappaBolt]

Offsets the lack of gas tax revenue. Multiple states are doing this due to perceived reduction in revenue from ICE consumption.

But there is limited transparency on how the amount is set. Let’s use a hypothetical example:

State tax on a gallon of gas = 0.52

$400 EV equivalent / 0.52 = ~769 gallons annual consumption

average ICE fill up : 18 gallons

fill ups per year: ~42

YMMV

It obviously varies widely based on consumption. A flat tax that disregards usage is “regressive” and favors the government coffers. I expect politicians will find a way to make it “progressive” based on income.

 

[SANZC02]

I just renewed my Oklahoma State state license plates, and now there’s a new $400 EV tax that owners of electric vehicles must pay in addition to the usual registration fee every time they renew their license plates.
I know I did not vote for this.

Seems pretty steep. Oklahoma has a 19 cent gas tax per gallon. $400 dollars equates to 42k miles a year in a vehicle getting 20 mpg.

 

[NY_Rob]

All states will probably do this once EV's reach critical mass, just a matter of time.

 

[SANZC02]

Offsets the lack of gas tax revenue. Multiple states are doing this due to perceived reduction in revenue from ICE consumption.

They are but not fairly, they need to remove the gas tax and add the same amount to all vehicle registrations. Alternatively device a charge per mile on registration for EVs so you pay per use like ICE. I’m all for paying for road maintenance but make it fair. That $400 is like driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee at 20 mpg 42k a year, that is 2.4 times the average in Oklahoma of 17.7k a year. Should be closer to $200.

Looks like they are trying to make local EVs pay for out of state registrations that use the roads but do not consume fuel.

 

[C.R. Rivian]

WA charges $150/EV. That's reasonable even though, being retired I just don't drive much.

 

[Thedude]

The amount might not be quite equal but an EV registration tax that goes into the road fund is absolutely fair. Contribute your portion to maintain the roads you drive in since you aren’t paying the gas tax designed for that purpose.

Seems pretty steep. Oklahoma has a 19 cent gas tax per gallon. $400 dollars equates to 42k miles a year in a vehicle getting 20 mpg.

If you compare the Rivian to a similar weight full size truck the comparison is closer to equal. For my 3500 diesel it’s about equivalent to 31k miles driven.

 

[SANZC02]

The amount might not be quite equal but an EV registration tax that goes into the road fund is absolutely fair. Contribute your portion to maintain the roads you drive in since you aren’t paying the gas tax designed for that purpose.



If you compare the Rivian to a similar weight full size truck the comparison is closer to equal. For my 3500 diesel it’s about equivalent to 31k miles driven.

Still high even for a 3500 diesel. Probably gets 13 mpg, that 400 is 27.4K miles which is 10k higher than the 17.7k annual for Oklahoma in 2022. Even for you it should be closer to $256.

 

[SlaterGS]

If you compare the Rivian to a similar weight full size truck the comparison is closer to equal. For my 3500 diesel it’s about equivalent to 31k miles driven.

Your 3500 diesel and my R1S aren't doing near the amount of road damage that these guys are doing and they don't pay any registration fees or gas tax! ?

I understand why the tax is there and am happy to pay my fair share, however it is not being implemented very well IMO which is my main issue.

 

[Dark-Fx]

How are your roads?

 

[SlaterGS]

How are your roads?

Great if you ignore the potholes.

 

[VSG]

WA charges $150/EV. That's reasonable even though, being retired I just don't drive much.

Yes, in WA it is a reasonable amount: With a gas tax of ~$0.50/gal, that equates to about 300 gallons of gas, or 5k/year of driving for the 4Runner I replaced with my R1T. I'm actually paying less than I did in gas taxes. And that's a good thing, because even if it's only a few hundred dollars that makes people feel good about deciding on an EV - the state spends FAR more than that trying to incentivize EV adoption in other ways, so this is a bargain from the state's point of view. And since EVs are more expensive, the state's 10%+ tax on motor vehicles ensures the state will make considerably more money from an EV sale.

(How things like roads and infrastructure are funded in our state is an entirely separate issue - long-term funding of ALL state services is dysfunctional here because we're not allowed an income tax and because a lot of funding is historically tied to unstable non-sustainable sources like timber sales and gas taxes.)

Using this same math in OK, a fee of $400/year with a gas tax of $0.19/gal means that an EV owner will be paying as much as someone who uses 2000 gal/year (~=32k miles of driving in my 4Runner). Which means that EVs will proportionately pay a substantially larger amount than ICE owners.

This is a disincentive to buying an EV in OK, and just the fact that this fee exists will discourage some number of people from considering an EV. A gas tax is hidden in the price of gas, and paid dollar by dollar over a period of a year, so no one really considers the amount of tax - they only worry about the price of gas. But a separate and fairly large fee to be paid all at once every year is something people try to avoid, even if it totals to the same amount.

If the whole purpose of a tax was just to charge in proportion to the amount of wear and tear to contribute to the roads, a gas tax is a poor way of doing that. And a flat fee is even worse. But tax policy is also used to influence behavior, hence "sin taxes" and credits for buying and owning a home, credits for being married and having kids, etc. If you have a policy that makes EV owners responsible for a larger share of road maintenance, that WILL act to slow down EV adoption. How much, I don't know.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Your 3500 diesel and my R1S aren't doing near the amount of road damage that these guys are doing and they don't pay any registration fees or gas tax! ?

I understand why the tax is there and am happy to pay my fair share, however it is not being implemented very well IMO which is my main issue.

That may be only one horse-powered but the tailpipe emissions are a real shitshow.

 

[VSG]

But does it have CarPlay?

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