EVs Mooch Off, Do Not Pay Fair Share for Road Usage

[bigsky]

So the myth goes.

While EVs do not pay gasoline taxes, states do make sure that EVs still pay a so-called fair share through much higher annual registration fees levied on EVs only.

Comparing auto registration costs for my R1S to those for a typical ICE SUV, and eliminating commonalities, e.g., weight, it costs $225 more to register my R1S.

Looking at gasoline excise taxes in the area, the $225 additional EV registration tax would buy you 500 gallons of gasoline.

From the nerdy point of view, this means I would have had to charge north of 16,700 kWh on my Rivian to "break even"; I actually charged 3,400 kWh in 2024.

From the mileage point of view, overall consumption on my R1S for 2024 was 1.8 mi/kWh. That is 60 MPGe, which means that I would have to drive 30k miles in a given year to once again "break even"; I actually drove 6,300 miles in 2024.

And should I not drive my R1S at all; and it will be in winter storage for at least 6 months, I still pay the same for registration. No prorating. The same will go for my other two EVs. By comparison, ICE does not drive=ICE does not purchase gas=ICE does not pay taxes. Fair.

Registration fees on EVs seem capricious and arbitrary at best and can never begin to address the much-needed fairness. We all must pay our fair share for road usage. I am thinking ditch the excise tax on gasoline and make everybody pay annual registration according to mileage driven and throw in vehicle weight tax for good measure also. That would be very fair.

A side-by-side comparison on the R1S registration and an ICE SUV registration. The $75.00 EV tax "funds electric vehicle infrastructure." There is no such similar thing for the ICE SUV registration. In my days of driving ICE, I do not recall ever paying a tax for gasoline vehicle infrastructure, either.

Just a reality check.

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[godfodder0901]

So the myth goes. Now a reality check.

While EVs do not pay gasoline taxes, states do make sure that EVs still pay a so-called fair share through much higher annual registration fees levied on EVs only.
Comparing auto registration costs for my R1S to those for a typical ICE SUV, and eliminating commonalities, e.g., weight, it costs $250 more to register my R1S.

Looking at gasoline excise taxes in the area, the $250 additional EV registration tax would buy you 550 gallons of gasoline.
From the nerdy point of view, this means I would have had to charge north of 18,000 kWh on my Rivian to "break even"; I actually charged 3,400 kWh in 2024.

From the mileage point of view, overall consumption on my R1S for 2024 was 1.8 mi/kWh. This means that I would have to drive 33k miles in a given year to once again "break even"; I actually drove 6,300 miles in 2024.

And should I not drive my R1S at all; will be in winter storage for at least 6 months, I still pay the same for registration. No prorating. The same will go for my other two EVs.

Registration fees on EVs seem capricious and arbitrary at best and can never begin to address the much needed fairness. We all must pay our fair share for road usage. I am thinking ditch the excise tax on gasoline and make everybody pay annual registration according to mileage driven and throw in vehicle weight tax for good measure also. That would be very fair.

A side-by-side comparison on the R1S registration and an ICE SUV registration. The $75.00 EV tax "funds electric vehicle infrastructure." There is no such similar thing for the ICE SUV resgistration, and in my days of driving ICE, I do not recall ever paying a tax for gasoline vehicle infrastructure, either.

Not complaining. Just pointing out noticeable stark differences.

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The caveat is that not ALL states and municipalities charge higher fees... yet. The fact is that our increased weight causes more damage, so we should be required to more than the average ICE vehicle. We should all be charged an annual fee based on weight and miles driven.

 

[Laserboy1054]

Thanks for the breakdown! I just paid my registration, which included an extra $100.00 because of my non-use of gasoline. I'll need to repeat the calculation for my own situation, but, yeah, I think it's too much.

I routinely drive across a very short bridge over a railroad track that terrifies me when I'm in my Mini. My R1T is definitely not the heaviest thing across it on a typical day--everyone ignores the weight limit! But I sure hope my extra registration fee goes to replacing that thing before it collapses and shuts down both road and rail traffic--and kills someone!

 

[Dmartin]

The caveat is that not ALL states and municipalities charge higher fees... yet. The fact is that our increased weight causes more damage, so we should be required to more than the average ICE vehicle. We should all be charged an annual fee based on weight and miles driven.

Our weight does not cause additional damage. If the roads can support 80,000lbs trucking then a 7500lbs EV isn't going to cause measurable damage over a 6,000lbs pickup. almost all road damage is done by semi trucks and construction equipment, very very very little is done by consumer vehicles.

 

[Riv_Ian]

I had a similar argument with an angry coal roller last year who thought I shouldn't be riding my fat bike down a gravel road since his gas taxes were paying for it and I wasn't. The fact that I have multiple vehicles in the family that I'm paying registration/gas/eve taxes on as well as the fact that a lot of the money to build, repair and maintain roads comes from other tax sources couldn't penetrate.

 

[Singletracker]

I agree that EV owners should pay their FAIR share to maintain the roads. However, an EV tax should be based on annual miles driven. This is baked into the gasoline taxes. Charging a flat rate tax for EV’s penalizes the low mileage EV drivers, while subsidizing the high mileage drivers. The tax structure should be relatively the equivalent of that being charged to ICE vehicles when they fill up.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I pay way more on registration than I would on the gas tax.

 

[godfodder0901]

Our weight does not cause additional damage. If the roads can support 80,000lbs trucking then a 7500lbs EV isn't going to cause measurable damage over a 6,000lbs pickup. almost all road damage is done by semi trucks and construction equipment, very very very little is done by consumer vehicles.

Axle weight is the single largest contributor to road degradation. Our trucks have an ~20% increase in Axle weight in your example. This excess damage is observable and measurable.

Yes, commercial vehicle traffic is the largest contributor to the damage, but it's ignorant to claim that our vehicles don't cause more damage than lighter vehicles.

 

[JohnB R1T]

My Texas EV surcharge is $200/year. That would be the gas tax collected on 520.83 gallons of gasoline (or 450.45 gallons of diesel). I just ticked over 19,000 miles on my R1T (having had it for 2 years in early November). I'm definitely paying "more than my fair share" toward the things that the state & federal gasoline/diesel tax pay for.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

People are still arguing about this? Oof. Good grief. I glaze over the posts on sites like Nextdoor now. In my state (Virginia) this passed in 2020. The Highway Use Fee, or "HUF" applies to all "fuel efficient" cars, including hybrid & gasoline vehicles. It's a sliding scale. The more fuel efficient your vehicle is, the more you pay in HUF. Obviously, EV's, since they pay $0 at the pump, pay the highest HUF. But try explaining to someone why their Toyota Corolla costs more to register than their gasser F-150, LOL. ?

*This was the 2023 fee chart. Don't have time to dig up the newer one but should be similar.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It’s 200 here too. I don’t complain too much though because it’s an expensive car and I’d feel like a dick whining about 200 bucks a year to drive what I want.

 

[Lord Leroy]

What we should also be talking about is we are getting double taxed. We are paying taxes on the electricity we buy. Just like what a gasoline tax would be.

 

[JohnB R1T]

What we should also be talking about is we are getting double taxed. We are paying taxes on the electricity we buy. Just like what a gasoline tax would be.

In Texas ...the answer is "it depends".
There are all manner of distribution charges, availablity charges and other junk fees added to your electric bill, but...if you are a residential consumer, no sales tax. If your charging is done at your commercial establishment, then you are paying 6.25% to 8.25% in sales tax (depending on where it is)...but...if you are charging at your office, commercial welding shop, out back at the bar you own, etc, then you are likely deducting the WHOLE charge from your federal income taxes (wink, wink, nod, nod).

 

[electruck]

For those in the world that want to blame EV owners for not paying their fair share, it's not the fault of EV owners that the government can't keep up with the pace of technology.

 

[electruck]

What we should also be talking about is we are getting double taxed. We are paying taxes on the electricity we buy. Just like what a gasoline tax would be.

but the tax on electricity isn't allocated to funding roads and, yes, schools like the gas tax here in TX. if they started doing that then the taxes on the electricity would go up substantially.

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