The Republican Party is seemingly on a mission to kill the electric vehicle despite its wealthiest backer being the CEO of Tesla. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is set to discuss a $200 annual federal registration fee on electric vehicles on Wednesday. The proposal was put forward by Representative Sam Graves, the committee chair. While there’s an argument that EV drivers aren’t paying their fair share to build and maintain federal highways, the revenue scheme seems like it’s meant to dissuade people from buying electric cars.
The proposed federal registration fee would extend to other types of propulsion. Hybrid vehicle owners would be charged a $100 fee. All internal combustion vehicles don’t escape scot-free either. Owners of conventionally-powered cars and trucks would have to pay a $20 fee that would only come into effect in October 2030. According to Ars Technica, the fees would be linked to inflation and be increased every year. The registration fee for EVs would jump to $250 by 2035.
The federal gas tax hasn’t been increased in 32 years
The Republicans hope to get their proposal enacted through the Congressional budget reconciliation process. If passed, it would be the responsibility of state DMVs to collect the fee and transfer the revenue to the federal government. The states that refuse to comply would see their federal highway funding withheld. The amount blocked would be 125% of the estimated registration fees. However, not everyone would have to hand over a fee every year. The bill exempts commercial vehicles, so don’t be surprised if your neighbor suddenly has an LLC just for their Tesla Model 3. In a statement, Graves said:
“It’s only fair that EVs pay these user fees like other motorists. In fact, the new user fees provision addresses the broken Highway Trust Fund revenue stream in a substantial manner for the first time in over 30 years.”
I can’t argue with Graves on the latter point. Congress hasn’t raised the gas tax since August 10, 1993, two days before I was born. The figure has been fixed at 18.4¢ per gallon for nearly 32 years. While EV owners obviously don’t contribute to the gas tax, electric vehicles are only a tiny fraction of the 100 million cars added to the country’s roads over the past three decades. Should there be some form of federal tax on EV owners? Yes. However, Graves’ proposal is disproportionate to the amount currently paid by other drivers.
This really isn’t about raising revenue
It’s clear that there’s a road maintenance problem that is being ignored to fabricate an EV problem. The Eno Center for Transportation estimates that the federal registration fee would raise $110 billion for the Highway Trust Fund by 2035. However, the fund would run a $222 billion deficit. Earlier this year, Republicans in the Senate proposed bills to kill the EV tax credits and charge a $1,000 tax on EV purchases. Legislators also claimed that EV users needed to pay their fair share while everyone else is barely paying at all. This isn’t about raising revenue to maintain our roads, but fighting a ridiculous culture war.
