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Monday, May 08, 2017

Amid Gas-Tax Revenue Decline, New Fees on Fuel-Efficient Cars

Second in an occasional series of stories on how states are overhauling tax codes to adapt to a new economy.

Lawmakers in California, home to almost half of the nation’s electric vehicles, decided this year to impose an annual fee on the owners of plug-in electric cars beginning in 2020.

Meanwhile, Maine is considering an annual fee on both plug-in electric vehicles and more popular hybrids, which run on both gasoline and electricity and recharge as they go. Both kinds of vehicles still make up a tiny share of cars on the road, but supporters of the idea are hopeful that revenue will rise as they become more popular.

State Rep. Andrew McLean, who chairs the Maine Legislature’s joint transportation committee, acknowledged that the new fee won’t raise a lot of money right away, but he said the move makes sense as a way to “begin the conversation” of tapping more revenue from electric and hybrid vehicles as their numbers grow.

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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

As for the "all electric" owners, their purchase price and subsequent "fill-ups" are all subsidized by us gas burner owners and yes, they just need to repay their subsidies and pay for meters at all the recharge stations and for the electric they use, just like the rest of us always have.

Oh, but that would make then laughingly unaffordable!

Anonymous said...

Tax tires. Every car needs tires. And they are limited to the maximum number of miles you can drive.

Anonymous said...

How about the states learn to do with less.

Anonymous said...

6:52 AM we already pay a tire tax. Anything to screw the taxpayer.

Anonymous said...

6:15 AM Wow, just wow. Unbelievable ..

Anonymous said...

You are completely clueless

Anonymous said...

Seems everything you go to do to be green and save money here comes the tax man with his hand out wanting that 'savings and then some so why bother if your net gain is zero or less?

Anonymous said...

What's so unbelievable, 7:30? It's called TESLA. Look it up. Buyers get it for half of what it costs to make, then get free recharges at charging stations they don't pay for.

Just where on earth do you think all that money DOES come from?

I won't hold my breath for your answer...

6:15 am.

Anonymous said...

9:09 AM #2 my answer is that same as 9:09 #1 and I might add, you are an idiot to think that the tax revenue goes solely to roads. If it did, our infrastructure would be in better shape.

TESLA isnt the ONLY electric car maker.
The drop in revenue isn't due to electric cars, which is a tiny fraction of the equation by their admission - Both kinds of vehicles still make up a tiny share of cars on the road
And they already admit it will not generate much revenue.

So I repeat that your comment is just, idiotic and you do not see the bigger picture.

So by your standards if I ride my bicycle, walk or do not own a car, I should also get taxed.


Anonymous said...

No, 9:30, my taxes did NOT buy your walking shoes nor did they buy your bike. Your "generate big revenue" point isn't even in the article, in fact it quotes that it won't generate a lot of money RIGHT NOW.

My point is that your tax money and mine were used to build all electric cars to be sold for half price and to build the charging infrastructure for them and then to give away for free the electricity to the buyers. What benefit are we getting from the taxes we paid for this? If you said NOTHING, you'd be right!

To tax the buyers of these cars would be a small token, but my point was, why not charge the customers full price for the products they are buying in the first place? BECAUSE IT WOULD MAKE BUYING THEM AND DRIVING THEM LAUGHINGLY UNAFFORDABLE!

Didn't I say that before and you said I'm clueless?
909 #2

Anonymous said...

10:27 So you are saying that a $100K+ TESLA is half price? I think you are confused about some of the early incentives on vehicles like the Prius and Volt. Not every electric vehicle is charged at a free charging station. Every electric vehicle owner i know has a charging hookup in their garage.

Anonymous said...

Then what are those things at the mall where Teslas from DC come to charge up? Is it because they are the only ones who don't have a garage charger? Why don't they just drive back home and use their own garage chargers if "every electric vehicle owner" has one?

You need to read up on this. Can I recommend epautos.com? Eric Peters has all the numbers you don't.

Anonymous said...

10:27 AM I never said anything about "big revenue". But I did quote the article stating it was not a significant amount of money.

So you are calling people clueless over pennies. Funny. You go get em SJW. Chase those pennies down!

Anonymous said...

2:16 Do you have a learning disability? Poster clearly state that every owner he/she knows has a charging station in their garage. Yes, there are charging stations in parking lots at destinations TESLA owners paid for the right to charge there as part of their purchase price. TESLA provided the charging stations. New owners must pay to charge now. Electric vehicle will over take combustion engines in the not so distant future. Sorry you don't like them and can't afford one but many people do and can.