Washington State Lawmakers Issue Giant Middle Finger To Electric Vehicle Owners

[yobigd20]

http://jalopnik.com/5971670/washing...iant-middle-finger-to-electric-vehicle-owners

Wow - so apparently starting Feb 1st, if you own an electric car in Washington State you will have to pay an additional $100 annual fee for registration. "the additional fee is to help the state compensate for the gasoline taxes that these electric car owners don't have to pay anymore."

I hope other states don't start following this...

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/12/30/ev-owners-in-wa-to-pay-extra-100-annual-fee/
http://www.complex.com/rides/2013/0...icle-owners-have-to-pay-an-additional-100-fee

 

[lolachampcar]

revenue anywhere they can get it.... This is not long term thinking.

 

[Mycroft]

Frankly, I don't have a problem with this. Someone has to pay for the roads, they should be those using the resource. It's not completely fair of course. More fair would be to base the fee on mileage, but that would involve annual inspections. It also doesn't cover Volt or PiP owners who just drive on electric and rarely buy gasoline. But they have to start somewhere.

 

[walla2]

Washington state has a law that makes local and state sales tax zero percent for EV purchases. In some cases, thats around 9 % off the purchase of the model s. At only $100 / year, I would say ev owners are still getting a great deal.

 

[dsm363]

All gas/EV tax should be mileage based with weight of vehicle factored in too since a 3 ton pickup truck does more damage than a smaller Prius.

 

[Thumper]

I agree with Mycroft. This seems fair. If I drive about 10K miles/year and get 30MPG, a 30¢/gallon gas tax like we have here in Oregon would be almost exactly $100. Like Mycroft said it is not exact for everyone but it is close and there is no good reason we should not pay for roads and bridges. In fact if gov experiences too much loss of revenue to keep up the infrastructure, they will tax with some other scheme that is even less appropriate.

 

[Doug_G]

Weight definitely matters. The majority of road damage is caused by heavy trucks. The trucking industry should be paying the lion's share of highway maintenance.

 

[widodh]

All gas/EV tax should be mileage based with weight of vehicle factored in too since a 3 ton pickup truck does more damage than a smaller Prius.

That's how it works over here. You pay road taxes based on the weight of your vehicle.

Although this new law in Washington seems strange, I do get it in some way. Road maintenance isn't free, so in some way you have to pay for what you use.

They should only make sure that every cent that is collected goes back to the roads!

 

[efusco]

revenue anywhere they can get it.... This is not long term thinking.

I think it IS long term thinking. Gas taxes pay for the roads, if cars use the roads and don't pay the gas tax then they're taking a free ride on the backs of those who do and if enough do that then eventually there won't be enough money to pay for the roads. Now, I would like to see a percentage of that fee going toward development of an EV infrastructure as a better long range option. Still, $100 is peanuts to what anyone driving any gas car is paying annually.

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All gas/EV tax should be mileage based with weight of vehicle factored in too since a 3 ton pickup truck does more damage than a smaller Prius.

That would be ideal, but now you're talking about a whole 'nother layer of bureaucracy to track that sort of thing. pick a reasonable number like the $100 and call it good. The gassers don't feel like the EVs are getting an unfair free ride, you maintain your funding and everyone will feel equally cheated by the gubmint.

 

[rolosrevenge]

The people in WA are schizophrenic when it comes to such laws. They need road maintenance funds so they put tolls on certain roads and bridges. Then they vote and reject a law that would force them to use all toll revenue for road projects, so the toll money can be wasted elsewhere instead of funding the roads. They waive EV sales tax, then pass a law that adds a $100/ year tax on EVs. They clearly don't know what they want (other than legal marijuana).

 

[mattjs33]

They clearly don't know what they want (other than legal marijuana).

Perhaps that's the problem here.

 

[bolosky]

I live in Washington, and this doesn't really bother me at all. I use the road, I should pay for it. You could imagine a more fair way of allocating the tax burden (some have suggested mileage & weight, but that's still a problem, because you might drive out of state, and some of the road money goes into building new roads, which depends more on people/car than weight), but I think that keeping down the amount of overhead that would be involved in doing a more fair allocation has some merit to it.

Long term, as more and more of the fleet turns into EVs, this is bound to happen everywhere, not just in Washington.

 

[dsm363]

I absolutely agree EVs should pay for roads as well. If Washington requires an annual state inspection then that would be a simple way to check milage and charge a road tax based on that. That would work for all vehicles and wouldn't add any bureaucracy. If a state doesn't require an inspection then it makes it tougher. Maybe a minimum charge plus weight based charge would make most sense then.

 

[100thMonkey]

Honestly, WA state is so forward thinking and optimistic about the future of the EV here that they are thinking way ahead, to a time when so many EV's will be on the road that gas sales will plummet and revenue from those sales will have to be financed by EV owners. when the law passed I thought it was too soon to start the additional fee, but it has to start somewhere to make up for the lost tax revenue from gas sales or we'll end up with even crappier roads!

The States sales tax exemption is saving me about $10K on the purchase of the S and about $8K on the purchase of two Leaf's so far, I'm happy to pay some of that back in tab fees!

EV's just got a big shot in the arm in WA state with the election of our new governor Jay Inslee, author of Apollo's Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy. He's about as pro EV as one could get.

The state was very pro EV's already. We have one of the most extensive Quick charging networks in the US, second I believe only to OR. You can also drive out Route 2 all the way to Wenatchee and out RT 2 past Snoqualmie and find DC QC's all along the way. http://www.westcoastgreenhighway.com/ Ecotality is also installing DC QC's throughout the metro area in Seattle. Surprisingly, it is CA that is lagging in fast charging infrastructure and the commitment to complete the West Coast Green Highway. You can now drive from the Canadian border to the Northern CA boarder on the west coast green highway with DCQC's every 40 miles and in some cases closer, but once you get to CA it's tough going from the border on south.

Sadly, to date, there is no official word from Tesla as to our ability to access this fantastic charging network with an adapter for the S. In the not too distant future, CA will also have DCQC's all over the place. come on Tesla, let us know when we can expect those CHAdeMO adapters for the S, I want to do more than drive North or South on I-5, I want to go out West to the coast and sight see, camp and hike, visit my Aunt in Spokane to the East and have peace of mind in energy hungry inclimate weather knowing I can truly "PLUG IN ANYWHERE" as your web site claims!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[montgom626]

They clearly don't know what they want (other than legal marijuana).

That is funny!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL