The War on EVs: US House transport committee head wants to collect EV fees for highway repairs

[Biker16]

US House transport committee head wants to collect EV fees for highway repairs | Reuters
 

Quote

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee wants to collect funds from electric vehicles to help pay for U.S. highway repairs ‌as part of a surface transportation bill.

Representative Sam Graves, a Republican, said he plans to take up a multi-year bill in early April. Last year, House Republicans proposed a new $250 annual fee on EVs and $100 for hybrid EVs but it was not included in a massive tax and ⁠spending bill. The current five-year surface transportation law expires on September 30.

"We would like to get money from EVs," Graves said at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce infrastructure event, saying he expects the five-year bill to include $500 billion to $550 billion in funding for highways and bridges.

Some states charge fees for EVs to cover road repair costs. Congress for the past three decades has opted not to hike fuel taxes to pay for rising road repair costs. ‌Some ⁠Republican senators in February 2025 proposed a $1,000 tax on EVs for road repair costs.

 

Most revenue for federally funded road repairs is collected through diesel and gasoline taxes, which EVs do not pay.

Last year, the Electrification Coalition, an EV advocacy group, argued a $250 ⁠fee for EVs was unfair since an average gas-powered vehicle pays just $88 yearly in federal gas taxes.

Since 2008, more than $275 billion - including $118 billion from the 2021 infrastructure law - has ⁠been shifted from the general fund to pay for road repairs.

The Trump administration has taken a series of steps to disincentivize EV sales, including repealing ⁠a $7,500 EV tax credit last year.

Given the November congressional election, some lawmakers say it will be challenging to reach a deal by September 30 on funding.

 

[twintornados]

I don't necessarily oppose this - however, the correct way is to drop the gas tax and move ALL roadgoing vehicles to a mileage based fee structure. Gas, hybrid, or EV...all equal in the eyes of the tax collector.  

[Texasota]

2 minutes ago, twintornados said:

I don't necessarily oppose this - however, the correct way is to drop the gas tax and move ALL roadgoing vehicles to a mileage based fee structure. Gas, hybrid, or EV...all equal in the eyes of the tax collector.  

The problem with that approach is many people fiercely oppose it because it is viewed as big brother tracking them. It’s a tough problem but EVs drivers do need to pay taxes for road and bridges also.

[akirby]

13 minutes ago, twintornados said:

I don't necessarily oppose this - however, the correct way is to drop the gas tax and move ALL roadgoing vehicles to a mileage based fee structure. Gas, hybrid, or EV...all equal in the eyes of the tax collector.  

Bingo.  The only reason it started as a fuel tax is it was easier to regulate and collect and consumers don't really notice it compared to a separate annual tax bill.

 

But it should be closer in cost to the old tax.

[rmc523]

39 minutes ago, twintornados said:

I don't necessarily oppose this - however, the correct way is to drop the gas tax and move ALL roadgoing vehicles to a mileage based fee structure. Gas, hybrid, or EV...all equal in the eyes of the tax collector.  

 

Agreed - the only "fair" way to do it is on mileage - drive more, pay more.

 

But I'm also understanding of people not wanting the gov't "tracking" them (as if they can't already lol).

 

I do agree that EVs should at least pay something.

 

Maybe a solution is to determine the yearly average value a gas powered model would pay (the article mentioned $88 above) and just apply that across the board for EVs?

[Biker16]

6 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

Agreed - the only "fair" way to do it is on mileage - drive more, pay more.

 

But I'm also understanding of people not wanting the gov't "tracking" them (as if they can't already lol).

 

I do agree that EVs should at least pay something.

 

Maybe a solution is to determine the yearly average value a gas powered model would pay (the article mentioned $88 above) and just apply that across the board for EVs?

I agree!

Mileage-based fees are the fair way to go.

Even an Equivalent Fee based on the Gas tax makes sense. 

The Elephant in the room is that the gas tax has not kept up with inflation, and was last raised in 1996, the year I graduated high school.

[Sherminator98]

18 minutes ago, Biker16 said:

The Elephant in the room is that the gas tax has not kept up with inflation, and was last raised in 1996, the year I graduated high school.

 

But your forgetting states also set fuel tax rates-for years NJ had low fuel tax rates that made our gas cheaper to buy then PA or NY. about 15 years ago that all changed and now they charge something like .30 cents per gallon. 

[morgan20]

13 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

But your forgetting states also set fuel tax rates-for years NJ had low fuel tax rates that made our gas cheaper to buy then PA or NY. about 15 years ago that all changed and now they charge something like .30 cents per gallon. 

 

Also, most U.S. states have registration surcharges for EV and/or hybrid vehicles.

 

 

In my home state of Indiana, the rates are:

• $242 (indexed) annual registration fee for electric vehicles. 
• $81 (indexed) annual registration for hybrid vehicles. 
• Registration fees will be indexed every five years against the consumer price index (CPI). 

 

[Texasota]

9 minutes ago, morgan20 said:

Also, most U.S. states have registration surcharges for EV and/or hybrid vehicles.

I prefer this method as opposed to big brother tracking my miles driven.

 

One could argue that a registration surcharge is unfair because low mileage drivers are subsidizing high mileage drivers. One can also argue that today's fuel tax (on each gallon purchased) is unfair because pickup drivers subsidize Corolla drivers. And then there is the issue where some farmers illegally fill their passenger cars with their agriculture gas/diesel which is not taxed. And then there will be people who figure out how to disable (or under report) big brothers mileage tracking system.

 

The arguments and issues are endless, but the registration surcharge has the least complexity and is less susceptible to illegal circumvention.

[akirby]

Make it a flat rate with an exception for vehicles driven less than 5000 miles per year as verified at registration time.  

[DeluxeStang]

A vehicle tax that goes towards road maintenance should be proportional to vehicle weight more than anything. Heavier vehicles are the ones causing more damage to the road. 

 

So it really shouldn't be a powertrain tax, but a weight tax. Some EVs are super heavy, some aren't, same with every other vehicle. If you're scooting around in a vehicle that weighs 3,500 lbs and isn't doing much damage to the road, your tax should be much lower than someone driving a 6,500 lb vehicle regardless of what kind of powertrain it has. 

[twintornados]

3 hours ago, Texasota said:

The problem with that approach is many people fiercely oppose it because it is viewed as big brother tracking them. It’s a tough problem but EVs drivers do need to pay taxes for road and bridges also.

 

I cannot speak to other States approach but here in NYS, your mileage is noted on your annual safety and emissions inspection. NYS already "tracks" my annual mileage. It would be relatively easy to set up in other States for an annual or semi-annual check of mileage as part of a registration event. 

[akirby]

24 minutes ago, DeluxeStang said:

A vehicle tax that goes towards road maintenance should be proportional to vehicle weight more than anything. Heavier vehicles are the ones causing more damage to the road. 

 

So it really shouldn't be a powertrain tax, but a weight tax. Some EVs are super heavy, some aren't, same with every other vehicle. If you're scooting around in a vehicle that weighs 3,500 lbs and isn't doing much damage to the road, your tax should be much lower than someone driving a 6,500 lb vehicle regardless of what kind of powertrain it has. 

I don't think weight of passenger vehicles makes much difference.  At least not enough to justify a complicated tiered system.

[Schpark]

Motorcycles better not have to pay the same as 8000lb evs.

[rmc523]

32 minutes ago, twintornados said:

 

I cannot speak to other States approach but here in NYS, your mileage is noted on your annual safety and emissions inspection. NYS already "tracks" my annual mileage. It would be relatively easy to set up in other States for an annual or semi-annual check of mileage as part of a registration event. 

 

We don't have annual inspections...

[akirby]

Just now, rmc523 said:

 

We don't have annual inspections...

Neither does GA which leads to burned out head and tail lamps, illegal light bars, squatted trucks, bald tires, etc

[twintornados]

4 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

We don't have annual inspections...

 

When do you have to re-register your vehicles? Again, in NYS, the registration is "good" for 2 years and follows the plate, not the vehicle. When you buy (or trade in) a vehicle for a newer one, your registration and plate transfers to the replacement vehicle. When that happens, it is usually a small registration fee at transfer time and then when the registration expires, you get a notification in the mail for renewal. 

[HotRunrGuy]

3 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

But your forgetting states also set fuel tax rates-for years NJ had low fuel tax rates that made our gas cheaper to buy then PA or NY. about 15 years ago that all changed and now they charge something like .30 cents per gallon. 

 

You're getting off cheap. Here in IL,,,,,,,

 

HRG

 

 

[morgan20]

39 minutes ago, akirby said:

I don't think weight of passenger vehicles makes much difference.  

 

Yea, exactly.

 

Engineers measure road damage using something called the “fourth power law“—a fancy way of saying damage increases exponentially with weight, but only becomes significant when you’re talking about truly heavy vehicles. Your ICE-to-EV passenger car upgrade? Barely a blip on the infrastructure radar.

 

Picture this: you’re arguing about who ate the last slice of pizza while an entire buffet sits untouched in the next room. That’s essentially the EV weight debate when trucks are involved.

 

“Load-related damage to pavement and bridges is caused almost exclusively by heavy trucks,” explains Mark Gottlieb, a civil engineer who studies infrastructure wear. “The contribution from autos and light trucks is insignificant. It makes no difference if they are EV or internal combustion.”

[twintornados]

7 hours ago, Biker16 said:

The Elephant in the room is that the gas tax has not kept up with inflation, and was last raised in 1996, the year I graduated high school.

 

The real Elephant in the room is that you graduated from high school in 1996...I was 2 years into my recently retired 30 1/2 year career....

[akirby]

27 minutes ago, twintornados said:

 

The real Elephant in the room is that you graduated from high school in 1996...I was 2 years into my recently retired 30 1/2 year career....

I was 10 years into a 37 year career......

[Biker16]

5 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

A vehicle tax that goes towards road maintenance should be proportional to vehicle weight more than anything. Heavier vehicles are the ones causing more damage to the road. 

 

So it really shouldn't be a powertrain tax, but a weight tax. Some EVs are super heavy, some aren't, same with every other vehicle. If you're scooting around in a vehicle that weighs 3,500 lbs and isn't doing much damage to the road, your tax should be much lower than someone driving a 6,500 lb vehicle regardless of what kind of powertrain it has. 

Fourth power law - Wikipedia
 

The Reality is that, although measurable, the Actual wear on the roads due to weight isn't as great as people think it is.

The difference in your example is ~16 to 1 or 16x the wear of the 3500lbs vehicle.

This is insignificant when compared to the Wear caused by medium and large trucks.  Which are over 10,000 times that of a 4,000 lbs vehicle

[Biker16]

8 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

But your forgetting states also set fuel tax rates-for years NJ had low fuel tax rates that made our gas cheaper to buy then PA or NY. about 15 years ago that all changed and now they charge something like .30 cents per gallon. 

This is the problem

 

Since 2008, more than $275 billion - including $118 billion from the 2021 infrastructure law - has ⁠been shifted from the general fund to pay for road repairs.

The highway system was based on users paying for road maintenance and construction, we haven't had a this system for very long. Resulting in Deficit Spending to support Road maintenance. AKA a subsidy 
 

[fordmantpw]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

I was 10 years into a 37 year career......

 

And I was 2 years into college...

 

We pay I think it's $180/year for a sticker for the Mach-E.  That's about the same as we paid in fuel tax for the Escape for a year, so it comes out in the wash.

 

My wife works for the department of transportation.  They frown when she parks in the lot with her electric car because they don't think she is paying her fair share of fuel taxes.  🙄

[morgan20]

39 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

My wife works for the department of transportation.  They frown when she parks in the lot with her electric car because they don't think she is paying her fair share of fuel taxes.  🙄

 

Haha, if I remember correctly from when I first joined this forum a couple years ago and you welcomed me, you're in central Missouri right fordmantpw? Of course your wife can confidently tell her MoDOT colleagues that her electric car is contributing more than its fair share to the state's Highway Fund, if she hasn't already done that. 😊

 

NCSL states that Missouri has the following registration surcharges for electric and hybrid vehicles:

• $150 additional annual fuel decal fee for alternative fueled passenger motor vehicles, including EVs, up to 18,000 lbs.  
• $75 additional annual fee for plug-in electric hybrid vehicles.