Current Events > EV owners in this State will now have to pay $200 tax/year. Guess which state.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a legislative proposal into law on May 13 that will make all electric vehicle (EV) owners in the state responsible for paying a $200 annual fee, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The law, which will take effect on Sept. 1, will also require new electric vehicle (EV) owners to pay a one-time fee of $400 to register their cars in addition to the $200 yearly toll.
What�s happening?
The aim of the new law is to recoup some of the tax money the state has lost through EV owners not purchasing pricey gasoline.
For example, since a Tesla doesn�t run on gas, its owner won�t pay the typical taxes that the owner of a gas-fueled car does when stopping at the pump.
Texas uses these fees for road and highway repairs and sometimes for school improvement.
The state already has over 200,000 EVs on the road, with more than 30,000 EVs added this year, meaning the bill will garner around $38 million per year for the state�s highway repair fund, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Why is the bill important?
EVs are beneficial to the planet and to consumers because they slash gas bills, reduce air and noise pollution, and produce less planet-overheating gas pollution. Some fear this new bill will disincentivize Texas residents from purchasing EVs.
UT-Austin transportation engineering professor Kara Kockelman told KVUE that the bill is indicative of Texas� full support for the oil and gas industry.
�Texas is really behind the curve on trying to do the right thing by the environment. And so, that�s embarrassing, I think, for all of us,� she said.
Consumer Reports suggested that the price of Abbott�s new annual fee of $200 is too high. The company found that a fee of $71 would be the �maximum justifiable EV fee� in Texas.
Consumer Reports policy analyst Dylan Jaff also said that the bill does not solve the gap in funding road work.
�Consumers should not be punished for choosing a cleaner, greener car that saves them money on fuel and maintenance,� he said in a release. �The fees proposed in this bill will establish an inequitable fee scale for EV owners and will not provide a viable solution to the long-standing issue of road funding revenue.�
What�s being done about bills like this?
MYEV.com listed at least 18 U.S. states other than Texas that charge EV owners annual fees, ranging from $50 to $200 per year. If your state is considering charging EV owners fees, contact your local representatives and let your voice be heard.
To soften the blow of any potential EV fees � including the sticker price � consider looking into tax breaks and incentives for EV purchases in your state.

Tax revenue wise...it makes sense? Of course theyre also doing it to scare off people from buying EVs as well.

Every state is moving in this direction, and a necessity to keep our roads functional with less people paying the gas tax.

I actually agree with this. EVs don't pay gas taxes, which are used to maintain roads. You gotta get some sort of tax out of them to maintain the infrastructure. The fact that it's coming from Texas is inconsequential, as all states ahould do this.

They're doing it because EVs are cutting into the money they were getting from gas taxes.

IMO we should do away with these taxes and just have a single mileage tax. Every year when you register you put your mileage down and pay taxes based on that.

does Texas not have excise tax?

First they should be making a push towards electric cars by increasing the gas tax. This is fine when electric cars are common place, not when we still want them to be.

They're doing it because EVs are cutting into the money they were getting from gas taxes.

IMO we should do away with these taxes and just have a single mileage tax. Every year when you register you put your mileage down and pay taxes based on that.

Hard to accomplish when EVs still aren't affordable to the masses, nor charging infrastructure in most of the country. Meanwhile people who can afford them have to pay their fair share too.

Sad how it was an obvious 50/50 choice between Texas and Florida.

Nice that I guessed my 50/50 correctly.

Next time some TC will bait us with some bullshit that Ohio is doing (or any other state, no offense to my random victim Ohio intended).

18 other states are doing it, so Im sure owners figured it was coming if it hadnt already.

But hold up, is this in addition to whatever we already have to pay every year for our regular vehicles or have they not been paying that at all?

Road repairs are exclusively paid for by the gas tax. How else do you propose to address EVs not paying gas tax?

Tax revenue wise...it makes sense? Of course theyre also doing it to scare off people from buying EVs as well.

Replace it with a vehicle weight tax. Since Vehicle weight has the biggest effect on the road deterioration caused by the vehicle.

As long as you do something to minimize or hopefully negate the impact it has on truckers.

We've had inspection and registration fees, but no additional tax to make up for the lack of gas taxes, so the $200 will be in addition to inspection and registration

Although, I think they also dropped the requirement for annual inspections

EV's shouldn't be encouraged because they don't solve anything.

They are charged as business class. Which is the same, but we make businesses actually pay like normal people instead of getting a free pass.

Damn.

Still worth it to you or you think this $200 will maybe make you go back to a regular car? Ive never though of going electric but with gas prices changing every single day it might be something to think about.

I knew it was Texas. I heard about this when they passed the law.

Spot on. When I'm rolling coal in the elementary school car line, those fumes make the children stronger. Libs try to tell us that's unhealthy??

Ah yes becausethere's absolutely zero alternatives between an EV and traditionally fueled vehicles, nd its absolutely impossible that both may be bad.

Ah yes I forgot how good EVs are for air quality. Thank god, instead of a car releasing emissions, a fossil fuel power plant releases emissions to power the car.

Ah yes I forgot how good EVs are for air quality. Thank god, instead of a car releasing emissions, a fossil fuel power plant releases emissions to power the car.

Ah yes I forgot how good EVs are for air quality. Thank god, instead of a car releasing emissions, a fossil fuel power plant releases emissions to power the car.

That's not the EV's fault and it's still better than the source directly under your nose emitting it. I'd say push for solar and renewables but you're against that too. You've gobbled down oil propaganda against EVs and nuclear industry propaganda against renewables.

Considering coal power and natural gas usage is only decreasing as time goes on, and renewable energy is increasing....yes it is good.