It's an interesting thought but Utah recently raised the cost to register EVs to compensate for the loss of tax income from gas.
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New Utah law and FUSC owners
- Thread starter NV Ray
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It's an interesting thought but Utah recently raised the cost to register EVs to compensate for the loss of tax income from gas.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
It seems both approaches are warranted in an effort to achieve equity since as I said upthread, EV drivers are only paying this “gas tax” at public charging stations, not at home.
$120/year, similar to California’s EV surcharge, isn’t likely to compensate for all of the gas tax revenue of the average driver (that would be about 10,500 miles at 30mpg).
The tax that Utah added to the registration goes up to $240 additional by the year 2032. So not only are they taxing us on the car, the registration, and driving it, we are now getting taxed to charge it at public stations.
This year, as they slowly ramp up the costs, my registration had a $135 addition for the road usage tax.
The sad part is, the bill that added the tax on public charging, also lowered the gas tax. Seems so backwards.
This year, as they slowly ramp up the costs, my registration had a $135 addition for the road usage tax.
The sad part is, the bill that added the tax on public charging, also lowered the gas tax. Seems so backwards.
Ahem. Last year I responded to an ad in the local newspaper: The Eastern Coalition Transportation Council was running (as it turned out) the latest of their studies on Mileage Based User Fees (MBUF). Link: Findings / Reports - The Eastern Transportation Coalition MBUF Pilot
I signed up my M3 and the spouse's MY. There wasn't any actual money trading hands; but each state (Maine to Alabama) participating in this thing had a cost per mile. I think Pennsylvania's was the most expensive; the others were all over the map. The MBUF mothership would log into Tesla and get the mileage for our cars, then generate reports stating How Much We'd Pay, written in a pretty clear format.
They swore up, down, and sideways that the data gathered would be used for the study and only for the study and that, once the study was over, all that data would get destroyed. At the end of the study, got a $50 VISA card, which the spouse and I spent on a meal. The data appears to have been deleted.
There were a couple-three surveys during the study asking questions along of lines of, "Do you think this is fair?" and similar.
Having Teslas, it was the Tesla Mothership that was queried for the mileage data. Other participants in other BEVs got, I think, little dongles that plugged into the OBDII port.
From our perspective, the main problem was that we travel out of state from time to time; so, unlike the gas tax which zaps one based more-or-less upon where one is driving and sends money to the people maintaining the roads one is driving upon, this MBUF fee would be only sent to the state in which one lives. Which maybe isn't all that crazy.
There was a bit of an announcement that Virginia has decided to go this route, although to what extent, I don't know.
Biggest problem is, I guess, data privacy. Once governments get the idea that they can get location as well as mileage there'll be a push by Constitutional Amendment Hating Law Enforcement to Gather It All. But such is life.
I like this approach better, I think, than simply charging some Monster Sum once a year during car registration time. People who drive a lot, pay a lot; people who don't, don't.
I signed up my M3 and the spouse's MY. There wasn't any actual money trading hands; but each state (Maine to Alabama) participating in this thing had a cost per mile. I think Pennsylvania's was the most expensive; the others were all over the map. The MBUF mothership would log into Tesla and get the mileage for our cars, then generate reports stating How Much We'd Pay, written in a pretty clear format.
They swore up, down, and sideways that the data gathered would be used for the study and only for the study and that, once the study was over, all that data would get destroyed. At the end of the study, got a $50 VISA card, which the spouse and I spent on a meal. The data appears to have been deleted.
There were a couple-three surveys during the study asking questions along of lines of, "Do you think this is fair?" and similar.
Having Teslas, it was the Tesla Mothership that was queried for the mileage data. Other participants in other BEVs got, I think, little dongles that plugged into the OBDII port.
From our perspective, the main problem was that we travel out of state from time to time; so, unlike the gas tax which zaps one based more-or-less upon where one is driving and sends money to the people maintaining the roads one is driving upon, this MBUF fee would be only sent to the state in which one lives. Which maybe isn't all that crazy.
There was a bit of an announcement that Virginia has decided to go this route, although to what extent, I don't know.
Biggest problem is, I guess, data privacy. Once governments get the idea that they can get location as well as mileage there'll be a push by Constitutional Amendment Hating Law Enforcement to Gather It All. But such is life.
I like this approach better, I think, than simply charging some Monster Sum once a year during car registration time. People who drive a lot, pay a lot; people who don't, don't.
BrownOuttaSpec
Active Member
found the loophole.
"(2) The tax levied under Subsection (1) is imposed at a rate of 12.5% for a charging station operator that charges:
(a) per kilowatt hour as described in Subsection (4)(a);"
Just charge by the megawatt hour or Joules and then the law doesn't apply.
$0.43 per killowatt hour, nah... its $430 per megawatt hour.
"(2) The tax levied under Subsection (1) is imposed at a rate of 12.5% for a charging station operator that charges:
(a) per kilowatt hour as described in Subsection (4)(a);"
Just charge by the megawatt hour or Joules and then the law doesn't apply.
$0.43 per killowatt hour, nah... its $430 per megawatt hour.
When I found out about the EV tax I did some math. The hike in registration is pretty close to the amount I would have been paying for gas regardless of where I charged it.
How about Corolla owners? They are t paying their share compared to F150 drivers. I say tax everyone in the state for goods that come over our roads as everyone benefits from good roads. Rename the gas tax and call it a carbon tax.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
One of the largest variables affecting road wear is vehicle weight, so you could argue that they are indeed paying a proportional share.
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