Montana to initiate EV tax

[andaconda]

Montana will implement an EV tax for all EV drivers in the state, July 1 of 2023. It flew through legislature with nobody to really stop it. Total extra tax on vehicles under 6000 pounds will be an additional $130 per year. I guess it was just a matter of time before they got their share.
New Legislation. If you put on a lot of miles in the state of Montana, It won’t be too bad. However, those people who don’t put on that many miles is gonna hurt a little bit. So in my case it’s gonna cost about 1 1/2 cents per mile extra to drive.
I do know that we have to pay our share for the repair of roads and we have so many in the state, but other states also have EV taxes too. I guess I better not complain too much. First, they upped the electric rates (and more to come) and now a surcharge for our license plates. Just a rant on my part, I guess…

 

[Unclepaul]

Very few EVs in Montana. Easy bill to pass. Little high speed charging infrastructure as well. More horses than EVs.

 

[andaconda]

Very few EVs in Montana. Easy bill to pass. Little high speed charging infrastructure as well. More horses than EVs.

Yeah, technically they tax horses too! Our last count of EV’s including Plug-in hybrids were just over 2000 registered.

 

[KJD]

In Utah it cost me $348. to register my 2021 Model Y this year. They charge extra for an EV here. Not real happy about it either, same as you.

Most of the people that write the laws in Utah drive huge smoke belching gas guzzlers and they don't care about clean air or climate change.

 

[andaconda]

In Utah it cost me $348. to register my 2021 Model Y this year. They charge extra for an EV here. Not real happy about it either, same as you.

Most of the people that write the laws in Utah drive huge smoke belching gas guzzlers and they don't care about clean air or climate change.

Ya, my next registration will be $387. Same here - smoke belching coal rolling trucks who doesn't care about climate either. And as far as our electric rates, NorthWestern Energy has a monopoly in the state and the Public Service Commission keeps letting them increase our rates (another 25% expected later this summer.) And to top all that off, our state has ZERO incentives for EV purchases, or even wall connectors. No rebates - no nothing!
------------------ Dirty Cotton Rock Suckers!

 

[AMPd]

I’m not sure that gas guzzling politicians are out to get EV drivers, I live in California, the Mecca of environmentalist politicians, yet our electricity and registration costs are through the roof. We also have an EV fee added to the registration.

 

[LoudMusic]

Very few EVs in Montana. Easy bill to pass. Little high speed charging infrastructure as well. More horses than EVs.

I think there are more horses than people in Montana.

In Utah it cost me $348. to register my 2021 Model Y this year. They charge extra for an EV here. Not real happy about it either, same as you.

Most of the people that write the laws in Utah drive huge smoke belching gas guzzlers and they don't care about clean air or climate change.

Just because they're driving environmental disasters doesn't mean EVs shouldn't be taxed. Those gas guzzlers are paying more tax for operation than an EV owner shelling out $348. And heavy EVs are doing more than average wear on the roads.

I support hating them, but don't cross pollinate the hate points

 

[Cattledog]

I think there are more horses than people in Montana.

Yeah, if you watch Yellowstone, it's a miracle there's anyone alive to pass a bill...

 

[LoudMusic]

Yeah, if you watch Yellowstone, it's a miracle there's anyone alive to pass a bill...

They're all from out of state.

 

[Zer0t]

It’s inevitable that states will create some type of tax / surcharge for those don’t pay gas taxes. I believe most states use this tax for road repair. It’s only a matter of time as EV sales grow and reduce ICE sales.

 

[unhyphy]

Washington state has a similar tax on EVs

 

[jboy210]

In California, and I assume other states, these are to compensate for the loss of gas sales tax revenue. The taxes pay for the upkeep of roads and other parts of the state's transportation infrastructure.

 

[andaconda]

I think there are more horses than people in Montana.

And as a fact of the matter - on the last population count we had 4 times as many cows as people!

 

[KJD]

In California, and I assume other states, these are to compensate for the loss of gas sales tax revenue. The taxes pay for the upkeep of roads and other parts of the state's transportation infrastructure.

I am good with paying some fair amount for road upkeep and maintenance. What I am opposed to is the fixed amount per year.

If I drive 1,000 miles per year or 50,000 miles per year the tax on an EV is the same amount in Utah. It sounds like Montana is the same.

 

[Midpack]

I am good with paying some fair amount for road upkeep and maintenance. What I am opposed to is the fixed amount per year.

If I drive 1,000 miles per year or 50,000 miles per year the tax on an EV is the same amount in Utah. It sounds like Montana is the same.

So what’s a fair way to tax EV owners? There are countless taxes we all pay for services that don’t take usage into account, it’s not always straightforward to do so…

 

[andaconda]

I also think that $70 for a plug-in hybrid is also a little bit high. How many plug-in hybrids can go much more than 20 or 30 miles? I guess there is no real fair way for taxation. So I guess we’ll have to live with what we’re getting. And I don’t want to have big brother tracking every mile I put on the car - we got enough of that sort of thing is it is!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

So what’s a fair way to tax EV owners? There are countless taxes we all pay for services that don’t take usage into account, it’s not always straightforward to do so…

Odometer. That at least in some way works the same way as fuel taxation, being linked to usage.

And yes, you can drive miles out of state. Well, people have been crossing borders and buying gas in the cheaper state/country for ages. Deal with it. Doesn't have to be perfect it just at least needs the correct principle.

They address different vehicle weights a bit with the weight bands, but clearly the bottom bands has wide variations between cost for gas vehicle drivers that's not represented for EV drivers.

Whether road fees being heavily linked to usage is correct is a different question.

I don't care which way it is, as long as it's as close to the correct way and it's consistent. Making EVs pay a fixed fee but ICEVs pay a variable fee is wrong.

And, generally, taxes that don't tax usage into account can be a problem. For example, we pay by the bag for trash collection. We also have curbside recycling. Trash reduced significantly after they introduced pay-per-bag. It just nudged people.

Yes, there's an extra overhead if a state doesn't already record odometer on registrations, but if governments make the decision that per-mile is the way to go, then they can get the industry to introduce a standard way to make reading of VIN and odometer easy for road pricing.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I also think that $70 for a plug-in hybrid is also a little bit high. How many plug-in hybrids can go much more than 20 or 30 miles? I guess there is no real fair way for taxation. So I guess we’ll have to live with what we’re getting. And I don’t want to have big brother tracking every mile I put on the car - we got enough of that sort of thing is it is!

A number of PHEV are over 30 miles AER now. Batteries have trended bigger.
2022 Prius Prime was 25.
2023 Prius Prime will be 44/39.

Most trips are shorter anyway so the electric miles are higher. But in a sense by making it $70 they're biasing it similarly the way the EPA rating is biased to urban. 55% of 130 is ~71.

 

[STS-134]

Odometer. That at least in some way works the same way as fuel taxation, being linked to usage.

Not fair because some or most miles could have been driven out of state or on private property.

Whether road fees being heavily linked to usage is correct is a different question.

I don't care which way it is, as long as it's as close to the correct way and it's consistent. Making EVs pay a fixed fee but ICEVs pay a variable fee is wrong.

Correct way is to bill all vehicles based on usage (which includes time of usage) such that those who drive on the public highways during times when it's most congested pay more, and those who drive more miles pay more. We can already do this with open road tolling.

 

[strider]

I am good with paying some fair amount for road upkeep and maintenance. What I am opposed to is the fixed amount per year.

If I drive 1,000 miles per year or 50,000 miles per year the tax on an EV is the same amount in Utah. It sounds like Montana is the same.

Oklahoma has a $110/year surcharge on EVs. Apparently this is the average amount of fuel tax paid per vehicle in Oklahoma per year. At this point I'm fine with paying a fixed fee vs the alternative of having the govt know how many miles/year I drive. Technically they should also consider gross-vehicle weight as heavier vehicles cause more damage to the roads. With ICEs this is automatic as a large truck gets ways worse mileage than a small car and so pays more in fuel taxes.

I suppose the other "fair" option is to surcharge electricity used for charging which is easy to do at a public charging station but would require a separate meter at home. No thanks.