House Committee Proposes $250 EV Tax

A proposed federal $250 tax on electric vehicles would raise the cost of EV ownership and help make up for lost gas tax revenue, report Maxine Joselow and Shannon Osaka in The Washington Post.

The House Transportation Committee approved the proposal last week, noting that EV owners do not pay gas taxes to help maintain roadways. “But according to calculations by Consumer Reports, the $250 fee is more than double what the owner of even the most gas-guzzling vehicle would pay in fuel taxes — and more than triple the amount paid by the average new gas car driver.”According to the article, at a gas tax rate of 18.4 cents per gallon, the average gas-powered car would pay $73 per year into the Highway Trust Fund.

To date, at least 39 states have imposed registration fees on EVs. In both Republican and some Democratic states, EV charges tend to outpace the average gas tax. The authors add, “The Transportation Committee initially planned a $200 annual fee for EV drivers and a $20 annual fee for drivers of gas cars. But the panel eventually increased the fee on EV drivers and abandoned the tax on gas car drivers altogether due to opposition from some Republicans.” 

EV drivers represent just 2 percent of the cars currently on the road, but that percentage is expected to grow.