State taxes in WA for Model 3

[yoshi10]

Looking to get a model 3 but unfortunately live in WA state. How are people able to justify the costs?

1. car tab cost (1.3% / year based on MSRP) - 50k ~ 500 / year
2. $150 state road fee in lieu of gasoline taxes (also per year)
3. $75 electrification fee (also per year)

you are basically paying an extra 725 / year on top of license plates each year!!!!

 

[swoozle]

Well, you're lucky we don't have property tax on cars like some states do. It could be a lot worse.

 

[BrakeDome]

Looking to get a model 3 but unfortunately live in WA state. How are people able to justify the costs?

1. car tab cost (1.3% / year based on MSRP) - 50k ~ 500 / year
2. $150 state road fee in lieu of gasoline taxes (also per year)
3. $75 electrification fee (also per year)

you are basically paying an extra 725 / year on top of license plates each year!!!!

dude, don’t remind me, I just paid $850 for my registration

to be fair, #1 on your list applies to the registration on any car, gas or electric, and it doesn’t apply to everyone in WA, just folks lucky enough to live in Pierce, Snohomish, and King counties

#2, I can sorta understand, I mean we still are using the roads, and I hate potholes as much as the next guy so... (though since it’s a flat rate, this hurts those that don’t drive much, so I make sure to drive as much as I can to get my money’s worth )

#3, I don’t know WTF is an electrification fee

 

[acarney]

Looking to get a model 3 but unfortunately live in WA state. How are people able to justify the costs?

1. car tab cost (1.3% / year based on MSRP) - 50k ~ 500 / year
2. $150 state road fee in lieu of gasoline taxes (also per year)
3. $75 electrification fee (also per year)

you are basically paying an extra 725 / year on top of license plates each year!!!!

You could move... or vote down your high taxes. I paid ~$325 over here on the East side. Admittedly that is about $100 or so more then in previous years because WA felt they were still missing out on gas tax... but boy that seemed to piss off a bunch of EV owners.

 

[postersw]

1. Car tab cost is the same on any car, so EVs are not being singled out.
2. The $150 road-tax 'makeup' is not unreasonable. If I have an ICE car that gets 25mpg and I drive 10K miles, thats about 400 gal, The WA state tax is 50c/gal, so for an ICE car that would be about $200.
3. The additional $75 that the legislature just added (Washington state embraces new fees on electric vehicles in pursuit of greener transportation) seems pretty unreasonable, and probably had some help from the petroleum industry.

The combination of the $225 fee and the higher insurance premiums of another couple of hundred (compared to my BMW) means that the great saving of owning a Tesla are really not quite that great.
Fortunately, in Washington state our electricity is only 10c/Kwh, so our yearly electric bill is lower that the national average (12c/Kwh) and less than half of folks in New York (23c/Kwh).

 

[acarney]

1. Car tab cost is the same on any car, so EVs are not being singled out.
2. The $150 road-tax 'makeup' is not unreasonable. If I have an ICE car that gets 25mpg and I drive 10K miles, thats about 400 gal, The WA state tax is 50c/gal, so for an ICE car that would be about $200.
3. The additional $75 that the legislature just added (Washington state embraces new fees on electric vehicles in pursuit of greener transportation) seems pretty unreasonable, and probably had some help from the petroleum industry.

The combination of the $225 fee and the higher insurance premiums of another couple of hundred (compared to my BMW) means that the great saving of owning a Tesla are really not quite that great.
Fortunately, in Washington state our electricity is only 10c/Kwh, so our yearly electric bill is lower that the national average (12c/Kwh) and less than half of folks in New York (23c/Kwh).

If that $75 really results in DC fast chargers every 40 to 70 miles across the state AND Tesla gets around to releasing a CCS adapter that can handle 100kW+, then that fee might not be so bad. Tesla is killing it with the supercharger network, but I still would love some more secondary road coverage and into more remote areas like the national parks and mountains. That also gives a lot more redundancy on those secondary state highways if a charger goes down.

I would like to see them release a firm plan and map and details on average number of stalls at each location and then stick to that build out. I would also like to see them mandate that whoever acts as the administrator of the network must accept credit cards directly at stations, contactless payment like Apple Pay/Google Wallet, and whatever BS proprietary payment app the management company uses. It’s already ridiculous how many different apps and payment plans are out there and most the apps require a minimum initial loading of $10 or so.

 

[rkinney]

I ordered a LR AWD last week but thinking about downgrading to an LR+ and stripping the add ons like FSF to get under the $45k limit for the sales tax exemption. Am I understanding this WA exemption that you get to deduct $2,500 in sales tax if the EV is under $45k new?

Hate to give up the LR range and the AWD would be nice for the few times of year and travel in winter weather, but the incentive makes me think twice as I can add on FSD after delivery to basically apply the tax savings to discounting the option post sale.

 

[postersw]

I ordered a LR AWD last week but thinking about downgrading to an LR+ and stripping the add ons like FSF to get under the $45k limit for the sales tax exemption.

That sales tax exemption is nice, but you will always regret not having that extra range if you downgrade to an LR+.

If you actually always got the EPA rated range for your SR+ (something like 240mi) then it would not be a problem, but from my experienc
e (and others on this forum) you can really only count on a couple hundred miles of range for your LR AWD (with an EPA range of 310 mi).
Why? Well as a rule you only charge to 90%, which puts you down to 278 miles. Then in general driving in Puget Sound I average maybe 85% of the EPA rating, which puts you down to 236 miles. And you usually want to leave a cushion of 20-40 miles, so right away you are at 200 actual drivable miles. And in 30 degree weather that 85% efficiency can go down to 60%. So it won't be long before you miss that extra range cushion that the LR gives you. Especially here in WA where large sections of the state have no supercharger coverage (try driving the North Cascades highway, or even around the Olympic peninsula with side trips).

Remember that once you take delivery, you can never change your mind and 'upgrade' that SR+ to an LR .by just paying the $10 difference, so better to eat that extra sales tax and enjoy the 50K you plunked down on the car ).

 

[StealthPenguin]

Looking to get a model 3 but unfortunately live in WA state. How are people able to justify the costs?

1. car tab cost (1.3% / year based on MSRP) - 50k ~ 500 / year
2. $150 state road fee in lieu of gasoline taxes (also per year)
3. $75 electrification fee (also per year)

you are basically paying an extra 725 / year on top of license plates each year!!!!

MN is no better.
$640 Registration Tax
$75 EV Surcharge Fee (MN Legislature is debating further increasing this to "offset" lost revenue from gasoline sales...despite the registration tax)
$15 Title/License Fee

PLUS $3281 Sales Tax (6.5%)

I envy those who don't have a sales tax...

 

[acarney]

I ordered a LR AWD last week but thinking about downgrading to an LR+ and stripping the add ons like FSF to get under the $45k limit for the sales tax exemption. Am I understanding this WA exemption that you get to deduct $2,500 in sales tax if the EV is under $45k new?

Hate to give up the LR range and the AWD would be nice for the few times of year and travel in winter weather, but the incentive makes me think twice as I can add on FSD after delivery to basically apply the tax savings to discounting the option post sale.

Sadly there isn't anything like a LR+. Your option now is a single motor (rear wheel drive) SR+ with the partial premium interior OR the long range all wheel drive (LR AWD) model. The single motor long range model was discontinued in late spring.

The sales tax credit applies to any EV with a selling price under $45k, and that includes Tesla's destination fee. It exempts $25,000 of the purchase price from sales tax, so the amount might vary a little bit depending where you take delivery and what tax rate. I believe Bellevue is 10.1% sales tax, so 10.1% of $25k is $2,525 (though I think it's limited to $2500) tax that you will NOT pay. I took delivery on the east side of the state where the tax rate is 8.9% and saved $2,225. The rest of the tax on the car is still owed though.

It is correct to say not to expect the advertised range. In low speed driving (downtown traffic or smaller town streets at ~35mph) you probably will hit the advertised range, or maybe slightly better, as long as weather is warm enough to not use the heater. On freeway speeds you'll get about 80% of the rated range (I get about 190 miles while my SR+ is rated at 240 miles). In the winter this will be even lower due to heat, but possibly not drastically lower (since once the cabin is heated it's lower continuous energy to maintain that temperature). I expect probably 70% of rated range (maybe about 165 miles at freeway winter temperatures).

Other then that, no fog lights, less of the speakers active and no sub-woofer, and no satellite view maps and no live traffic displayed (though routing will still factor in traffic). It's been announced by Tesla that a premium connectivity package will be offered for ~$100 a year that should enable that stuff on SR+ vehicles, but it's been almost a year of them talking about that...

 

[BrakeDome]

... or vote down your high taxes.

Nope, tried that, even got the initiative passed this Nov.

But then someone in the government didn’t like that they weren’t going to get the same level of taxes from car owners starting Dec 5th and had a judge block the initiative from taking into effect. Gotta love government corruption.

 

[RangerMac]

You could move... or vote down your high taxes. I paid ~$325 over here on the East side. Admittedly that is about $100 or so more then in previous years because WA felt they were still missing out on gas tax... but boy that seemed to piss off a bunch of EV owners.

They did vote down the higher rate and then the corrupt politicians sued and a judge held the old rate for atleast a while longer.

 

[RangerMac]

Nope, tried that, even got the initiative passed this Nov.

But then someone in the government didn’t like that they weren’t going to get the same level of taxes from car owners starting Dec 5th and had a judge block the initiative from taking into effect. Gotta love government corruption.

Worst state government ever. I have lived a lot of places and it can say that for sure. California is tied with stupidity though.

 

[jnord]

MN is no better.
$640 Registration Tax
$75 EV Surcharge Fee (MN Legislature is debating further increasing this to "offset" lost revenue from gasoline sales...despite the registration tax)
$15 Title/License Fee

PLUS $3281 Sales Tax (6.5%)

I envy those who don't have a sales tax...

We still have a 10.1% sales tax so add $5800. You got off cheap. What we don't have though is income tax so at least there's that.

 

[rkinney]

That sales tax exemption is nice, but you will always regret not having that extra range if you downgrade to an LR+.

If you actually always got the EPA rated range for your SR+ (something like 240mi) then it would not be a problem, but from my experienc
e (and others on this forum) you can really only count on a couple hundred miles of range for your LR AWD (with an EPA range of 310 mi).
Why? Well as a rule you only charge to 90%, which puts you down to 278 miles. Then in general driving in Puget Sound I average maybe 85% of the EPA rating, which puts you down to 236 miles. And you usually want to leave a cushion of 20-40 miles, so right away you are at 200 actual drivable miles. And in 30 degree weather that 85% efficiency can go down to 60%. So it won't be long before you miss that extra range cushion that the LR gives you. Especially here in WA where large sections of the state have no supercharger coverage (try driving the North Cascades highway, or even around the Olympic peninsula with side trips).

Remember that once you take delivery, you can never change your mind and 'upgrade' that SR+ to an LR .by just paying the $10 difference, so better to eat that extra sales tax and enjoy the 50K you plunked down on the car ).

Very good point on the range, being new to the car I hadn’t considered the margins for charging and temperature-I’ll stick with the LR appreciate the perspective very helpful! I live in Washington State running from the Peninsula to Bellevue with lovely 2 hour commutes can’t wait to experience some relief with FSD to do the heavy lifting

 

[rkinney]

Sadly there isn't anything like a LR+. Your option now is a single motor (rear wheel drive) SR+ with the partial premium interior OR the long range all wheel drive (LR AWD) model. The single motor long range model was discontinued in late spring.

The sales tax credit applies to any EV with a selling price under $45k, and that includes Tesla's destination fee. It exempts $25,000 of the purchase price from sales tax, so the amount might vary a little bit depending where you take delivery and what tax rate. I believe Bellevue is 10.1% sales tax, so 10.1% of $25k is $2,525 (though I think it's limited to $2500) tax that you will NOT pay. I took delivery on the east side of the state where the tax rate is 8.9% and saved $2,225. The rest of the tax on the car is still owed though.

It is correct to say not to expect the advertised range. In low speed driving (downtown traffic or smaller town streets at ~35mph) you probably will hit the advertised range, or maybe slightly better, as long as weather is warm enough to not use the heater. On freeway speeds you'll get about 80% of the rated range (I get about 190 miles while my SR+ is rated at 240 miles). In the winter this will be even lower due to heat, but possibly not drastically lower (since once the cabin is heated it's lower continuous energy to maintain that temperature). I expect probably 70% of rated range (maybe about 165 miles at freeway winter temperatures).

Other then that, no fog lights, less of the speakers active and no sub-woofer, and no satellite view maps and no live traffic displayed (though routing will still factor in traffic). It's been announced by Tesla that a premium connectivity package will be offered for ~$100 a year that should enable that stuff on SR+ vehicles, but it's been almost a year of them talking about that...

Helpful perspective I’m sticking with my order for the LR AWD....appreciate the response

 

[AZjohnInCA]

We still have a 10.1% sales tax so add $5800. You got off cheap. What we don't have though is income tax so at least there's that.

All States and Fed’s get their money one way or another.
California hasn’t implemented a way to get their ungodly gas taxes from EV owners yet but trust me, they will do it very shortly.

 

[FFSC]

Wouldn't mind paying fees and taxes if they put it to use and resolved the homeless and drug epidemic we've got going on in the city