you can see a pall over Austin from liberal angst...
/smart alec
Posted on 07/30/2023 1:30:45 PM PDT by lowbridge
TEXAS has announced plans to charge vehicle owners a $200 annual fee, as well as a $400 one-time fee for new owners.
The law, signed by Governor Greg Abbott, is set to take effect on September 1 of this year.
Those who have an electric vehicle will be responsible for paying the new annual fee in order to recoup tax money.
Electric vehicle owners do not have to pay taxes on gasoline, since they no longer need it.
According to the Dallas Morning News, this law will not apply to anyone that owns electric motorcycles, mopeds, or autocycles.
These taxes on gas are normally utilized for improvement in the state including schools, highway, and road repairs.
According to the comptroller’s office, this new law plans to generate $38million for the state highway fund, in addition to the $3.8billion they will eventually earn from gasoline and diesel taxes.
“This is extremely important to make sure people are paying their fair share and that we have adequate funding for the preservation and maintenance of our highways in the future,” said State House Rep. Terry Canales, an Edinburgh Democrat, in April of this year.
For reference, the average person with a gasoline-powered vehicle pays approximately $130 in state gas taxes per year in Texas, according to data maintained by the Federal Highway Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.
And not everyone is happy about the change as it could disincentivize people buying electric cars.
“Texas is really behind the curve on trying to do the right thing by the environment. And so, that’s embarrassing, I think, for all of us,” UT-Austin transportation engineering professor Kara Kockelman told KVUE.
Consumer Reports policy analyst Dylan Jaff also criticized the law, stating that it will not be as helpful to the state's road funding as
(Excerpt) Read more at the-sun.com ...
“..to make sure people are paying their fair share..”
Normally I despise that term as used by filthy democrats but
I’ll give a pass on this one.😀
Given that the state gas tax in Texas is 20 cents/gal, that corresponds to the tax you would pay driving 20,000 miles a year in a car that gets 20 miles/gal.
EV owners should also be fined if their EV catches fire and the resources involved in the putting out the fire are extensive. And they should be fined for chemical environmental damage they cause.
Ok,I take the minority contrarian opinion here.
Government encouraged people to buy ev’s to reduce gas usage/dependence and to help the environment. Less people would have to burn gas. They wanted people to do this.
Now government wants to phuc these people over because they are somehow escaping taxes. Leave it to government to villainize the people they encouraged to become villains.
Its not the ev owners fault for this. Its government trying to blame shift lack of taxes onto the very group of people they encouraged to increase their numbers.
750 battery packs in a Tesla. Side impact at speed and it turns into grapeshot!
Just like the wind powered generators, if there were no government subsidies the wind farms would not exist. Drive your Tesla to pikes peak on New Year’s Eve and text me then.
About time these freeloading, virtue signaling b*stards starting paying their fair share to repair the roads their glorified golf carts help destroy. Better yet would be a miles driven tax, but only for EV’s.
"You phuc'd up, you trusted us."
Wonder how they figured in the hybrid owners that have a much smaller, lighter battery pack, with only about a 40 mile battery range and a gasoline motor for when the battery goes dead.
Or the hybrid that uses both a EV/gasoline function on at all times during use.
If EV’s are as good as you say they are, you should be able to sell them without a huge government credit. They may be great for you, but for most people at this point, the up-front purchasing price is still prohibitively expensive.
“Don’t they pay taxes on their electric bill?”
They do. To keep the grid up to date but that tax money doesn’t support roads. A Wheel Tax on EV’s was discussed when they were still a novelty but it’s a fact now.
/smart alec
Chickenfeed.
It should be a yearly fee and current owners should be charged for years past.
Peanuts compared to the damage they do to our roads and infrastructure. Not to mention they contribute nothing like the gas taxes paid by ICE owners.
I’m sure there are exceptions, but my bet is that most EV buyers will not be in the least deterred by this tax/fee. Some will consider it a badge of honor. I know my BIL and his wife wouldn’t care for more than 30 seconds the tax on their electric Volvo. The people buying these cars are not working for $15 an hour. It’s the $15 an hour wage earner who is paying for their $7,500 tax credit from the government.
I haven’t done the math, but I’m guessing most ICE drivers are paying a bit more than $200 a year in gasoline taxes.
My lib daughter drives a Tesla, and understands that it’s fair. Grumbles a bit, though.
It wouldn’t be rocket science to add a per kWh tax onto EV chargers or charging stations.
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