Cars, it's electric! Do Do Do

Ian F said:
The EV/road tax has been a talking point for years. Pretty much since Tesla cars started making a splash, but it's only since EV sales have really taken off that some states are trying to do something about it. It's a valid point. States use gas taxes to maintain the roads and that work isn't getting any cheaper.

Some states have considered a $/mile use fee, collected as part of registration. PA could somewhat easily do that because of the annual inspection process that records the odometer reading by a 3rd party.

There are no great solutions since any sort of use-tax tends to put more of a burden on those who can least afford it. A big advantage of gas taxes is the "death by 1000 cuts" approach as you are paying a bit every time you buy gas. A registration tax/fee on someone who drives a lot for work could turn into a pretty big bill they might not have budgeted for.
Click to expand...

well the issue there is out of state travel -
the car is more than smart enough to report miles and where it was electronically through a dashboard app.
perhaps something like E-ZPass where you fund the account and states can draw on it as needed?

Not that I want more tax, it should just be fair as many people purchased their EV to bop around town and arn't doing 100/wk
 
Patrick said:
well the issue there is out of state travel -
the car is more than smart enough to report miles and where it was electronically through a dashboard app.
perhaps something like E-ZPass where you fund the account and states can draw on it as needed?

Not that I want more tax, it should just be fair as many people purchased their EV to bop around town and arn't doing 100/wk
Click to expand...
Out of state travel becomes an issue of cost-benefit. Similar to how many adjacent states handle income taxes. There is enough cross-border use by each state residents that the administration costs to implement collection of the taxes doesn't generate enough revenue. I paid PA income taxes because that is my legal address (and the company is based in PA), but for some 15 years I worked out of our NJ office. It was the same when I worked at my previous company that was based in NJ.

Coincidentally (or maybe ironically), I paid more in NJ fuel taxes as I usually bought gas/diesel in NJ and rarely in PA during those (roughly 20) years, despite the fact my road usage was about equal in both states.

This sort of harkens back to the old $800 limit on import tariff collection. When the tariff was only 2.5%, collecting the tariff on less than $800 (about $20) wasn't worth the admin costs.

With an EV, you are probably right - most drivers likely do stay close to home. Although I did see a Tesla Model S on the NJTP this past Monday with VT plates. I can imagine they were recharging at the various rest area chargers. I wonder if when paying to use those chargers, are you paying NJ sales tax for that service or NJ road tax? In theory, it should be the latter.
 
Ian F said:
The EV/road tax has been a talking point for years. Pretty much since Tesla cars started making a splash, but it's only since EV sales have really taken off that some states are trying to do something about it. It's a valid point. States use gas taxes to maintain the roads and that work isn't getting any cheaper.

Some states have considered a $/mile use fee, collected as part of registration. PA could somewhat easily do that because of the annual inspection process that records the odometer reading by a 3rd party.

There are no great solutions since any sort of use-tax tends to put more of a burden on those who can least afford it. A big advantage of gas taxes is the "death by 1000 cuts" approach as you are paying a bit every time you buy gas. A registration tax/fee on someone who drives a lot for work could turn into a pretty big bill they might not have budgeted for.
Click to expand...
Based on the conditions of the rims of the average tesla in the greater princeton area, they need to pay extra to support the replacement of Belgian block and slate curbs.
 
Patrick said:
the car may have charge scheduling built in?

i'm fairly sure if I walk away from the car w/o plugging in i'd never get back to it.
Click to expand...
I'll have to try that again. Last time I tried to enable that it gave me issues with the location-based charging settings.
one piece crank said:
What if you just plugged it in for 20 minutes and then left?
Click to expand...
With my 240V setup that would only get me about 8 miles additional range unfortunately...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom