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Congress Proposing $130/Yr EV Highway Fee – HotAir

WEEEEE!

Oh, muh gosh, this is going to be so much fun, I can hardly stand the thought.

What I especially love about the whole concept is being able to turn the progressive mantra about ‘paying your fair share’ right on its ear and right back at them.





Electric car owners could be forced to pay as much as $150 annually under a new tax that is being proposed by bipartisan leaders of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

A new proposed EV fee that will start at $135 annually beginning in October 2026 is included in a new bipartisan draft of a five-year surface transportation funding bill that the panel is considering. Under the proposed legislation, which has been dubbed the BUILD America 250 Act, the fee can be increased by $5 each year until it hits a max of $150 annually. Plug-in hybrid owners would be hit with a $35 fee starting in October that can be increased to as much as $50 by the end of the legislation in 2031.

I love the verbiage: EV drivers could be FORCED to pay.

Oh, really? Nothing like what American taxpayers were FORCED to pay to develop and manufacture these things, not to mention finance the handsome subsidies to both the car companies and the consumer to get someone – ANYONE to buy the damn things.

And now we’re going to whine about having a yearly, tiny little $10 or so a month fee after all the bragging about not paying for gas, ete. that these insufferable snots do?

Gas taxes pay for the roads EVs drive on that EVs do not and have never paid for.





Call a WAAHMBULANCE

The pity party is already starting in Planet Greenville.

WE DON’T WANNA HAFTA PAY NO STINKIN’ FEES

It’s punitive.

And those EV cars are so expensive to begin with – it’s just mean.

…A new $135 annual fee for EV drivers would eat into those savings. EV supporters have argued that annual fees would add significant financial burdens to owners of electric vehicles who are already typically driving more expensive cars that are better for the environment.

It’s a plot by Big Oil!

Oh, look. The little Gore has objections. How nice that the wee wastrel could get a leg up into the green grifting industry.

All in the family, no?

…”This draft includes an irresponsible tax for EV and plug-in hybrid drivers that will fail at meaningfully closing the Highway Trust Fund shortfall,” said Katherine García, director of Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All Campaign. “Now is the time to incentivize, not penalize, clean transportation options that curb emissions harmful to our health and climate.” 





There’s an awful lot of complaining that some states already charge extra for owning an EV, but, hey! I hate to break it ot them. That’s those residents’ problem, just like their insanely high property taxes. I don’t need to subsidize what your state does wrong. The rest of us are out here all paying the same 18 plus cents worth of gasoline highway taxes per gallon.

Really? New Jersey saw yet another opportunity to soak its residents, and me here in Florida is supposed to suck it up because of that?

…Many states already have EV-specific registration fees to raise road-repair funds at the state level. And many aren’t cheap either. In Michigan, EV drivers need to fork over $267 in 2026, and plug-in hybrid owners must pay $113, increases from the previous year. In New Jersey, it’s $270 to register an EV, and drivers also need to pay the first four years up front. 

I don’t think so – the sympathy meter is pegged. Texas, even.





I’ll bet you a buck our tax dollars subsidized his purchase or helped manufacture his vehicle.

Learn to vote Republican, whiners.

Now, I can see arguments that, because most EVs aren’t driven as far as the average mileage that real cars get, they are being penalized at a higher rate with this flat fee. 

That might very well be true and should be looked at.

Some folks are saying this $135 equates to about 21K miles a year, and they only drive 8K. So perhaps some adjustments are in order on the scale. I can be magnanimous to a point.

But only so far.

IF I DON’T LIKE IT, IT’S GOT TO BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL





And I see the ‘Well, what about truckers – shouldn’t they pay more?’ being raised in some circles.

They already do, Mr. EV owner.

…As Congress works toward creating the next highway bill, there will certainly be discussion of whether truckers pay their fair share into the federal Highway Trust Fund.

According to data from the OOIDA Foundation, truck drivers pay nearly 20 times more per mile than the average car owner.

It appears our members are easily covering any kind of damage and more in what they are contributing to highway maintenance,” Charles Sperry, research analyst for the OOIDA Foundation, told Land Line Now.

Using figures from members of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, truckers pay an annual average of $11,651 in federal fuel taxes, $27,560 for federal excise taxes on the tires, trailer and truck and $2,921 for the heavy vehicle use tax, registration and other fees.

In all, the average OOIDA member contributes $42,132 per year into the Highway Trust Fund, while the average passenger vehicle driver contributes anywhere from $137 to $296 per year. Considering that OOIDA members average a little more than 109,000 miles per year, they contribute 38.6 cents per mile.

It’s also worth mentioning that these figures don’t include the state fuel taxes that truckers pay, as many of those funds are used for state projects not related to transportation.

“It’s a significantly higher rate, obviously,” Sperry said. “You might even say that there’s a good case to be made that in some ways, truckers are subsidizing the use of passenger vehicles on the road.”





Yeah, I think this is an excellent proposal and, even if they shift it downward a smidge, an equitable one.

I have to admit a guilty snicker reading the meltdowns.

I probably won’t even feel bad about it later.


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