How do we fund roads and
bridges? Gasoline taxes. Every vehicle that uses roads and bridges
pays its share. Except electric vehicles. They don’t pay any
gasoline taxes. Uh oh. Electric vehicles are a necessary component
of our response to climate change, but how are they going to pay their share
for road use?
There is no national
solution. It's a state-by-state issue. I checked with
Colorado. They have added an annual tax on top of their registration
renewal each year for electric cars, for the average amount other cars pay in
fuel tax. Not a perfect solution, people that use their electric cars
less than average end up paying more than their share, but Colorado has done
something and that’s better than nothing.
Texas has instituted an initial $400
fee for registering an electric vehicle, and an annual $200 fee after that,
which is actually punitive because it’s more than the average gasoline powered
car pays in fuel taxes. Whatever. Even if the system for each state
isn’t perfect, at least it’s something. Some states haven’t
done anything at all. They need to step up. We don’t want the
quality of our infrastructure to suffer because we’ve improved our methods of
getting out and about.
No comments:
Post a Comment