Hybrid licencing fee?

[2022EOW]

That's quite a few. We are encouraged to buy fuel efficient vehicles but then get charged for it.

Asphalt costs money, you used to pay for it when you bought gas. They have to collect it from somewhere.

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[ShadowBlack XL440]

I'm in Ohio - I'd rather pay a flat fee than have the government monitor how many miles you drive.

I'm sure if your car is a "smart" car, they can already track your location and distance traveled 24 hours a day.

Fueleconomy.gov - if you drive 12,000 miles a year, you save $500 in gas in the hybrid vs. the Ecoboost. So make that $400 a year net savings if you are in Ohio....

I was not offered a discounted registration fee on my 2004 Ram 2500 that was getting 11 MPG and paying a lot more in road/fuel tax. This is not a good way to encourage hybrid and EV purchases.

 

[NJBob]

Of course just depends how they do it equitably.

 

[NJBob]

I kinda thing the hybrids should not be saddled with an extra fee. After all, every bit of energy they use to move on the roads is supplied from fuel put into the gas tank.
They just happen to be extra frugal in their use of fuel, and actually have been surpassed in their frugality by some models of Toyota and Honda, and perhaps some Chevrolet labeled Korean imports.

So you lead the way(sort of) in ecological use of petroleum fuel, and get popped in the chops for doing so with an extra fee above and beyond the road use taxes already paid.

I think some legislator got a bug somewhere, and wrote a bill that was discriminatory towards fuel efficient vehicles.
Do they also have an extra fee for the vehicles that get 42mpg or more on the EPA tests? If not, there is an opening for a lawyer to claim discrimination... great.

In GA, if you are elderly, the annual tag fee is decreased if you can attest to driving less than XXk miles annually. The will accept a statement of the odometer reading to reduce the fee. In the past, the annual emissions test required the odometer reading at time of testing. So, they know already how many miles you drive if you are required to get the vehicle tested. I remember CA SMOG testing as requiring odometer readings, and of course, when you transfer title, the odometer is also recorded. If they don't know, all the have to do is require odo readings for registration renewals.

Totally agree. Every mile is produced by fuel. I can understand plug ins and EVs but not hybrids.

 

[commadorebob]

It's either that or they just start taxing you by the mile regardless of engine type. I prefer the current method.

States have to pay for the roads. It's just unavoidable. In general, the more fuel you use, the more road you use. So, it has historically been a decent trade-off to just tax fuel. It's part of the reason why there are tax reduced blends for farmers.

The EV and PHEV market throws that off because you use the road and aren't paying to do so. States had to recoup that cost somewhere.

In Alabama, the EV fee is beneficial to the state because they are making up the federal tax difference as well but get to keep it In Alabama. They only did PHEV because they raised the gas tax in general. So, ICE and hybrids were already hit.

 

[1929]

In Indiana the fee for hybrids is $50.00:

That's it! I'm moving to a hybrid friendly state.

 

[odin0425]

Washington State, $75 hybrid fee on top of regular tabs, Plug in hybrid / Electrick is $150. They will probably double next year as our O' so wise governor is doubling the gas tax.

 

[NJBob]

NJ had some of the cheapest gas around for many years. Then the pols decided to tie the tax to the amount of fuel they sell. If the sell less the tax goes up. If they sell more the price goes down. Other states around us reduced or eliminated the tax with the recent high costs. But NJ says its in our constitution and there hands are tied. To bad the roads are still crap.

 

[grumpyunk]

To be honest, diverting fuel road tax to other purposes is something that bothers the heck out of me. My take is that every dime of road tax revenue should be used for road maintenance., both state and federal.
If bike trails and hiking trails are desired, then those that use them should help pay for them, rather than taking from the original intended purpose.
The same should hold true for mass transit projects and subsidies, they should not be taken from road tax revenue. IMO

 

[AutobahnSHO]

Tracking the mileage is the tricky part.
How do you:

• Track mileage without invading privacy
• Account for miles driven out of state
• Prevent people from cheating

-You "could" have a state inspection station note the mileage every year (states that safety inspect).
-GPS is in almost all cars nowadays- whether it's used for anything or not. Could report on shutdown how many miles were traveled in which state(s) to a sealed (without warrant) database.
-to prevent cheating you have to remove people from the equation. Automate it all so it's as tamper-proof as possible. (if GPS doesn't work, car won't run)

 

[NJBob]

To be honest, diverting fuel road tax to other purposes is something that bothers the heck out of me. My take is that every dime of road tax revenue should be used for road maintenance., both state and federal.
If bike trails and hiking trails are desired, then those that use them should help pay for them, rather than taking from the original intended purpose.
The same should hold true for mass transit projects and subsidies, they should not be taken from road tax revenue. IMO

I feel the same way. Not sure how much but I belive actually most of the fuel tax in NJ goes to subsidize mass transit. And I live in an are of NJ that has no mass transit. So I am paying for something I can't even use. And being a rural area we tend to drive more. So we pay more and get less. NJ has one of if not the highest cost per mile to maintain the roads. Everyone has their hand out, have to pay the union rate for any labor.

 

[NJBob]

-You "could" have a state inspection station note the mileage every year (states that safety inspect).
-GPS is in almost all cars nowadays- whether it's used for anything or not. Could report on shutdown how many miles were traveled in which state(s) to a sealed (without warrant) database.
-to prevent cheating you have to remove people from the equation. Automate it all so it's as tamper-proof as possible. (if GPS doesn't work, car won't run)

GPS would work but then you get tax bills from every state you drive throgh. I think you will see chargers getting metered.

 

[Jatrax]

I think you will see chargers getting metered.

Definitely a possibility for dedicated EV chargers on the road. But what about home chargers / work chargers? I am 100% solar powered and would seriously resent them putting a meter on my array to charge me road tax.

-You "could" have a state inspection station note the mileage every year (states that safety inspect).
-GPS is in almost all cars nowadays- whether it's used for anything or not. Could report on shutdown how many miles were traveled in which state(s) to a sealed (without warrant) database.
-to prevent cheating you have to remove people from the equation. Automate it all so it's as tamper-proof as possible. (if GPS doesn't work, car won't run)

You COULD. Not sure I want to be around when that gets announced though Easiest thing is to just report your mileage on your registration form. With a physical check if / when you sell the vehicle to keep it honest. But that still leaves the question of which state gets the revenue.

 

[LSchicago]

No add on Hybrid fees in Illinois.

 

[TheSEARCH]

As far as I can tell NY doesn't have an added fee. which I am shocked they don't unless i am wrong.

NY has a yearly safety inspection which they record mileage . So they could get miles driven easy enough in NY. Granted it might be out of state driving. Or for me out of country when I go to Canada every now and then

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