Looks like it's headed to being official - $400 registration fee and $200 annual fee in Texas for EVs

[EVer Hopeful]

Well I say it's perfectly acceptable . . .

. . . once they also change the ICE owners an extra $200 a year for the environmental remediation the state's doing[1] to offset all the dead dinosaur fumes they're pumping out, not to mention the BP's little whoopsy in the Gulf of Mexico


[1] It is doing remediation right?

 

[EVer Hopeful]

...and we already tell the state what the current (and therefore 12 month elapsed) mileage is every time we get an inspection, so that could be used as a basis for calculating an appropriate fee that reflects the "missing" gas tax

anyway, it'll soon get quietly repealed ... once the Texas lawmakers start driving EVs. Oh wait ... if they do that, how will they get elected?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

The scary part of this is that once the Feds wise up to the revenue they are losing due to EVs not paying the Fed gas tax, we’ll see a Fed EV tax.

The Federal government has already asked states to look into alternatives to the Federal fuel tax.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Well I say it's perfectly acceptable . . .

. . . once they also change the ICE owners an extra $200 a year for the environmental remediation the state's doing[1] to offset all the dead dinosaur fumes they're pumping out, not to mention the BP's little whoopsy in the Gulf of Mexico


[1] It is doing remediation right?

Only the Federal government can regulate emissions (CARB excepted) so states have to be careful with what they do as far as fees go.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

Maybe that's how we can fight it

We claim that we're being punished for not making any - it's like a reverse regulation

 

[zoomer0056]

Saw this,

States That Charge Extra Fees To Own An Electric Vehicle | MYEV.com

Learn how State fees for EV ownership ranges from a low of $50 per year to a high of $200.

www.myev.com

 

[txguy]

They should have made the tax based on milage. Each year when you get your vehicle inspected, they get the milage. Subtract last year mileage and they would get the miles driven and compute the tax at a per mile rate.

That would be way too smart for the politicians in TX. How is that fair for the EV owners compared with the ICE drivers in TX? The ICE drivers have to pay only if they put in gas, but as an EV owner, you have to pay $200 per year no matter how many miles you drive. Case in point, my wife has an MY, and she barely goes 3000 miles per year.

 

[GWord]

That would be way too smart for the politicians in TX. How is that fair for the EV owners compared with the ICE drivers in TX? The ICE drivers have to pay only if they put in gas, but as an EV owner, you have to pay $200 per year no matter how many miles you drive. Case in point, my wife has an MY, and she barely goes 3000 miles per year.

How much weight can you fit in the Model Y? Go re-title it to a 10,000 gross weight vehicle.

 

[Talmen]

I don't necessarily have an issue with the fee, the annoying problem is the fee is a lump sum all at one time whereas the fuel tax is paid overtime only when you buy gas so is paid in much smaller increments. That lump sum payment for EVs may be hard to swallow for lower income EV drivers.

The house tried to amend it to allow it to be paid in 4 equal installments every quarter but was voted down. That amendment should have passed in my opinion if we were going to keep the flat fee. Not all EV drivers are wealthy people driving luxury cars and that $200 may be a big ask, especially if they don't know about this legislation and get sticker shot next year when they go to renew their blue sticker and they are told to pay 200%+ more than they were expecting to.

 

[holmesm1]

To add to zoomer0056's list:
In North Carolina, "Most private passenger vehicles are charged a registration fee of $38.75 annually. An additional annual fee of $140.25 is collected on electric vehicles".
Source: https://www.ncdot.gov/about-us/how-we-operate/finance-budget/nc-first/Documents/nc-first-briefs-edition-6.pdf

 

[bruce4000]

Probably has nothing to do with all the money from oil and gas royalties going to the schools and politician’s campaigns getting funded by big oil.

 

[DayTrippin]

This will be a sucker punch to a lot of people once they find out about it.

I pay more on property tax here than in Florida. License and registration is more here. Car insurance is more here. Sales tax is more here. Now the EV surcharge here. And the list keeps growing.

 

[brkaus]

This will be a sucker punch to a lot of people once they find out about it.

I pay more on property tax here than in Florida. LIcense and registration is more here. Car insurance is more here. Sales tax is more here. Now the EV surcharge here. And the list keeps growing.

I’m still shocked that Tesla didn’t encourage feedback.

Looks like the old teslaintexas.org lobbying stuff is gone.

https://twitter.com/teslaintexas

 

[WidowMaker03TX]

Bill is now law and is effective 1 September 2023.

 

[DayTrippin]

Might be worth keeping my cars registered in another state and just have insurance here if that is an option.

 

[Talmen]

Might be worth keeping my cars registered in another state and just have insurance here if that is an option.

Aside from a couple exceptions (mainly active duty US armed forces or students), TX requires residents to register their cars in this state. I think there is a 30 day grace period for new residents when moving here to switch the plates.

If you don't get caught, I guess no issue but I'm pretty sure if you ever get pulled over and they see you with a TX driver's license and out of state plates, that will raise some questions. Pretty sure there are fines/penalties if they determine you haven't registered your cars properly in TX when you'd otherwise be required to.

 

[DayTrippin]

Aside from a couple exceptions (mainly active duty US armed forces or students), TX requires residents to register their cars in this state. I think there is a 30 day grace period for new residents when moving here to switch the plates.

If you don't get caught, I guess no issue but I'm pretty sure if you ever get pulled over and they see you with a TX driver's license and out of state plates, that will raise some questions. Pretty sure there are fines/penalties if they determine you haven't registered your cars properly in TX when you'd otherwise be required to.

I kept my out of state license and have a house in another state. Not sure if it is worth the hassle but as a protest vote so to speak I might do it.

 

[Jwmeyer]

They should have made the tax based on milage. Each year when you get your vehicle inspected, they get the milage. Subtract last year mileage and they would get the miles driven and compute the tax at a per mile rate.

Exactly, no privacy issue, they already know our annual millage.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

You do need to add in the Federal tax as well. States effectively get that money back.

Also, average miles per driver is relatively higher in Texas. 16,171.

But yes, I think it sucks. Per mile is an obvious way to go unless there's more overall reform.

I guess you'll have to swap to a used Gen 2 Volt to cut your costs. Or maybe get an i3 REX.

I drive my MY about 10,000 mi per year, I have other vehicles. Also not all mileage is driven in Texas.
I think this is should be by gross weight and equivalent mileage in gas.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

That would be way too smart for the politicians in TX. How is that fair for the EV owners compared with the ICE drivers in TX? The ICE drivers have to pay only if they put in gas, but as an EV owner, you have to pay $200 per year no matter how many miles you drive. Case in point, my wife has an MY, and she barely goes 3000 miles per year.

Texas has done away with inspections!! So that will not work.