Forida EV Road Tax Senate Bill - Action Needed

[Ron J.]

The Florida legislature is considering a bill that would unfairly penalize electric vehicle (EV) owners. Republican Senator Ed Hooper has proposed legislation (SB28) imposing a $200/yr tax on EVs starting in 2024 that would increase to $250/yr. starting in 2029. As an EV owner I have no issue with paying my fair share equivalent to the Florida Road tax charged for gasoline fueled vehicles. The current Florida road tax is 35.225 cents/gallon. Just a little math here: on average Americans drive their vehicles 12,000 miles/yr and the current (since 2021) mandated fleet average fuel economy requirement for new vehicles is 36mpg. This means average gallons of gasoline used per year is 333.3 gallons for which the road tax would be $117 per year. So, if the EV owner puts 12,000 miles/yr on their vehicle they would on average be paying nearly twice as much road tax as owners of gasoline powered vehicles. For EV owners such as myself that only drive 6,000 miles per year, the road tax would be nearly 4 times as much. The current yearly road tax collected is based on gallons of gasoline consumed which directly relates to how many miles per year the vehicle is driven. Thus, if you drive more you end up buying more gasoline and in turn paying more road tax. If there were an EV road tax it should be based on the miles driven and this could be done with each vehicle registration renewal by including the odometer reading and charging perhaps 1 cent per mile driven since the previous renewal. For example, if you have driven 12,000 miles you would be charged $120 which is close to what you would have paid at the gas pump for the FL road tax for a typical recent vintage ICE vehicle.

ACTION: I suggest Florida EV owners contact their local state senator and ask that they oppose SB28 (2024) and perhaps also submit a letter/opinion to your local newspaper raising this issue.

 

[Jordan325ic]

Yea, the same bill just passed in Texas. Makes no sense, it’s just a political hit. EV drivers are an easy target.

My favorite argument in Texas was ‘EVs are heavy and wear out the roads’. When the entire state commutes to work in 6000lb pickups.

 

[syncword]

I just wrote my FL senator to the effect that while I understand EV drivers do need to help pay for the public roadways, the tax as proposed is punitive - far more than a typical FL gas car driver pays in gas tax each year. The state also offers zero other incentives to EV drivers. (See California, Colorado and others - and check out their EV taxes too!) A few counties/municipalities do - very few. If FL really wants to encourage the continuing adoption of EVs, to say the least they need to be careful with this.

I also saw they're looking at plug-in hybrids for a $50/yr surcharge. Why stop there? How about also taxing non plug-in hybrids, because they use less gas than average and by the same argument aren't paying their fair share alongside the gas guzzlers?

The right/best answer to this I don't yet claim to have. Rest assured it'll get plenty of thought though - shared with my legislators, as the next session gets underway. No doubt this issue will resurface.

 

[RSpanner]

Oregon presently is trying to figure out another way for EV's to pay a road tax. Currently, this is taken care of at Registration...but wonky and not an equalizer as some drive less than 10k a year, etc.

If your vehicle year is 2000 or newer, find your vehicle’s combined MPG rating at fueleconomy.gov.
Add together each fee type that applies to your situation to get your total fee.

Fee Type	When Fee is Due for Passenger Vehicles	Fee
Plate	Vehicle does not have Oregon plates	$25.50
Registration/Renewal*	Vehicle year is 1999 or older	$126
Vehicle year 2000 or newer, has a combined rating of 0-19 MPG	$126
Vehicle year 2000 or newer, has a combined rating of 20-39 MPG	$136
Vehicle year 2000 or newer, has a combined rating of 40 MPG or higher**	$156
Vehicle is all electric**	$316
County

Some have brought up the idea of reading the odometer once a year...I see long lines, etc.