Should electric cars pay a per mile tax?
EUGENE, Ore. - Kirk Gebb owns an all-electric Nissan Leaf.
Gebb doesn't buy any gas, which means he doesn't pay any gas tax.
"I just don't understand why more people don't adopt this," Gebb said. "Just so much more efficient than any gas vehicle is. It makes sense."
Many Oregonians agree: over the past decade, drivers here have purchased hybrid and electric cars at twice the national average.
But that presents a problem for the Oregon Department of Transportation, which relies on gas taxes to pay for nearly 60 percent of all road work.
For the past decade, James Whitty at ODOT has worked on an alternative system to the per gallon gas tax.
"Road system revenues will dry up and the system falls apart. Nobody wants that," Whitty said of the transition from gas to alternative fuel vehicles. "The fact that fuel efficient vehicles should pay or not isn't the question. They have to at some point pay, or you don't have a road system."
Whitty came up with something called the road usage charge pilot project.
The idea is to require hybrid or electric drivers to pay by the mile instead of at the pump. The proposal: one and a half cents for every mile driven in Oregon.
Over the course of a three month pilot program, a KVAL News test of a smartphone app and plug-in device resulted in a monthly mileage bill for $4.50.
"It just took us 10 years or so to figure out how to make it appropriate so people will find it not a difficult thing or frightening thing to do," Whitty said.
The legislation working its way through the state Capitol would slowly phase the road usage charge in. It would only initially apply to drivers whose cars get more than 55 miles a gallon. If passed as written, it won't go into effect until 2015.
Gebb, who owns a Leaf and is shopping for another alternative fuel car for his wife, is frightened by the privacy issues raised by the ODOT program. He doesn't like the idea of being tracked and would prefer to pay a flat, annual fee.
"Not looking for a free ride. Looking to pay my fair share," he said. "Just want that fair share to be a reasonable share."
the thing about electric cars is they don't pollute so maybe they shouldn't pay mileage tax. they are as clean as bicycles so until the state charges bikes don't charge electric vehicles. electric vehicles cost more than gas vehicles and then there is that 8 to 10 year mark were they will need a new $8000 to$10000 battery install.
What??? They already pay a doubled registration fee!!! Why does the DMV need any MORE?? This is BS!!!
Can you please provide a source for the statement that electric vehicles are charged more than gas or diesel powered vehicles?
The Oregon DMV website lists the registration as $86 for two years for all passenger vehicles (including electric). New registrations for ALL passenger vehicles (gas/diesel/hybrid/electric) are required to register for and to pay for four years which brings it to $172 for four years.Â
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/pages/fees/vehicle.aspx#otherreg
How about reporting the mileage when the vehicle is being re-registered? Too simple and efficient, and no one gets to sell, install and "service" expensive government-tracking devices.
@david_42Â that would require a dmv employee to actually leave their chair and go outside to verify the mileage.
They should pay a per-mile road tax...as should everyone. Drop the gas tax.
And non-gas vehicles should be charged a smugness tax, too.
"It just took us 10 years or so to figure out how to make it appropriate so people will find it not a difficult thing or frightening thing to do," Whitty said."
Wow. It took 10 years to come up with a mileage tax? These guys are brilliant. A normal person of average intelligence would take 10 minutes to come up with a mileage tax. I am sure it was tons of tax payer dollars well invested.
"I just don't understand why more people don't adopt this," Gebb said. "Just so much more efficient than any gas vehicle is. It makes sense."
Not true.
The TCO of an electric vehicle is much higher than a gas vehicle.
http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/~jarrett/EV/cost.php
That being said I say tax them and drive up the cost of the electric vehicle. They need to pay their "fair share".
Plus no free charging like they are getting now in many places. Taxpayers are paying for their "gas".
I don't think that the owners of electric vehicles should be allowed to plug in their cars, for the same reason(s) we are not allowed pump our own gas, i.e., we don't know what we are doing, we might blow ourselves up, put people out of work, etc. In the case of electric vehicles, they don't know what they are doing, they might electrocute themselves, blackout an entire neighborhood, etc.
I don't buy cigs so I don't pay tobacco tax but still get second hand smoke because the ten foot rule is not enforced
@Bert up in Seattle it's 30 feet from the door or window so people go out to the center planting strip in the street in pioneer square to smoke.Â
@Bert  Should be a thousand-foot rule...outside buildings and inside, where you have to smell their stinkiness all day long.
The electricity has taxes on it as well. They should turn over the tax to the road people then, based on the mileage traveled. It would be double taxing to get charged both.
If privacy is an issue with gps tracking of miles, do an annual fee, based on mileage, where the owner will have to provide proof yearly of the odometer reading. Difference between last year and this year is the miles driven - pay the per mileage fee with the annual registration (oops, OR is still bi-annual registration). Well, there is the privacy solution. Or the state could send out a notice each year, similar to what I receive occasionally from my insurance company, asking to certify my miles driven.
@wondering  And if they claim they drove so many miles out of state, then they need to submit GPS proof. Otherwise, it's all calculated as in-state.
Yes, a per mile usage tax should be levied on electric vehicles. If not by GPS, then a flat rate at vehicle registration time.
@Saltire
It doesn't have to be a flat rate at renewal time. There is a spot on the form for mileage now.
"I just don't understand why more people don't adopt this," Gebb said. "Just so much more efficient than any gas vehicle is. It makes sense."
For one thing, it's a Nissan Leaf and a Tesla costs too much.
@SaltireÂ
Tesla Roadster, out of production. :-( 0-60mph 3.7 sec ;-)
Licence bikes, licence bike riders.
Fee to licence bikes for adults who use them on public streets.........$500.00
Fee to licence adult bike riders who ride on public streets...................$1000.00
Minimum fine for impeding traffic flow for bike riders..............................$1000.00
Fee for electric cars......same as any others plus a small additional fee to help maintain roads
If everyone had electric cars and no one bought gas, where would the funds come from for road repair? There needs to be a means to provide the funding. That means either charge per mile, or tack on a purchase surcharge when the non-gas transportation is acquired. But to be fair, not all people drive the same mileage. So someone driving 20,000 miles each yr. shoud pay more than granny who might drive just 500. So a purchase surcharge tax would not be fair. That leaves the per mile tax. Annual fee taxes are also unfair due to the discrepancy in mileage driver per vehicle. To be fair, it comes down to a mileage tax.
Electric cars are already taxed - they pay double fees at registration and license renewal! I don;t see that fact anywhere in this story, so the story is being misrepresented!
They should pay an annual fee. Reasonable.
Forget the big brother mileage tracking issue. Just tax them at the time of purchase. Even cutting or eliminating the government subsidy when they purchase these golf carts.
owners of electric cars should pay an annual "idiot tax" of 666 dollars.
@Pers Retiree Buying a car doesn't make someone an idiot.
@Morticae Yes it does
Next thing you know....the government will require odometers on bicycles and charge them a per-mile use tax. HAAAA HA HA HA.
I also think that bicycles should pay tax - they use roads too. While at it, people that walk and run on roads should pay tax. Also, people who have pets that walk on roads should pay tax. Seriously, though - we all use roads, we all pay income taxes - I see no reason to have a separate tax with separate overhead for roads.
@Julie I hear what you're saying, the whole system needs to be integrated, this system of all these separate taxes for all these separate things and budgets running short and layoffs and lack of repairs and short falls, it's ridiculous.
@Julie Gas taxes pay for roads. Income taxes do not.
Yes! They need to pay per mile road taxes, unless they are able to float above the roadway their tires roll on! The road wouldn't be there for them to drive on without road use taxes of some form.Â
And can we finally CLOSE the DEQ test centers? The majority of cars are fuel injected computer controlled units that are so clean that DEQ isn't necessary. But will the government under a liberal administration ever cut spending? Not a chance.Â
@last boyscoutThat's only accurate until that little check engine light comes on. Â Now if you want to put in a countdown timer that won't let you drive more than a couple hundred miles after the CEL lights up, you might be on to something.
Give us the option of having the mileage checked at DEQ every year and paying the road tax there. If the yearly average is $18.00 based on the smart phone app test program I can afford that. If you use the roads more you will pay more if you use the road less you will pay less. No invasion of privacy and every one pays there fair share. I know this dose not charge the folks who do not live in the state but it all falls under the 80/20 rule.
@Justmy2cents Not a bad idea, I'd still abolish the car testing stations. They are nothing more than a huge cash cow for the state, with too many unnecessary state employees. Testing newer cars is like testing an electric car for hydrocarbon emissions.
@last boyscout @Justmy2cents Not to mention darned inconvenient. Surely glad my diesel truck is exempt.
OK, this is stupid.
The government is installing FREE quick charging stations all over the place. Electric cars can pull up & hook up to these stations to get a free jolt of juice while they are out doing their shopping.
At the same time, the government is complaining about electric cars not paying their fair share.
Face-palm.
Add to that that the electrics are charged DOUBLE the licensing fees!!! Why isn't this mentioned in the story??
@Morticae It's also just a matter of time where they won't be FREE charging stations anymore.
@angry1 @Morticae Yeah, that was my point. I chose not to spell it out. They should never have been free, and should immediately start being taxed.
@Morticae @angry1 That I can agree with.  It should never have been free.  It's silly to pay the expense, give away the electricity for free and then complain about a lack of funds for road repair.
BOY! The legislature wants to reach Deep into our pockets! I'm all for changing non fuel burning cars a road tax, but I just read some of the purposed legislation.
If you don't have a cell phone and, or are not willing to accept the potential to be tracked they want to base the flat tax on 35,000 mi/year.
I know of at least two people who don't have a cell and have ~60,000 mi on therir 10 year old cars. Leave it to the politicians to like every chance to rip the taxpayer off.@WebFootSTi  I'd love to have my  mileage tracked by cell phone.........
My cell phone would be parked in the garage for six to seven days a week.........while I'm out  in my vehicle paying no road tax  :)
Seriously though,  how is is supposed to work with a cell phone?  What is three or four car owners are in one car..... are all four paying road tax?  how can  the phone tell if  a person is the driver or a passenger in a car?
@kramr @WebFootSTi
Edit window closed and I just thought of another GOTCHA.
Progressive Insurance is offering a discount bast on monitoring our OBDII port for braking data. Does this Sate mandated device preclude a motorist from potentially taking advantage of this discount? If so it is another unintended way to reach into our pockets...
@kramr @WebFootSTi
That's one I hadn't thought of.  They also say that there is a plug in device.Â
What if I want to use my OBDII port for data logging. The state is denying my the right to that diagnostic function.
I had wondered how the app could deal with multiple vehicles and drivers in a household. Is it a phone bill, or do the registered owners get a bill from the state and at what frequency. The article implies once a month.
(My car gets 20mpg when I go out and grind the pavement. I think my gas tax registration fee is paying my fare share.)
The usage fee should be fair. This should include some sort of equasion for the degree of wear and tear on the road, the amount of polutants created while driving, the degree to which the vehicle relies on fuel from petrol-terrorist states, etc. Oregonians should not be charged more than out-of-state drivers using the same road system. The state's computation of the numbers should be subject to an annual independent audit... unless, of course, you trust the state DOT to do it fairly/accurately.
On a side note. Those using studded tires should pay an additional tax for the damage they cause.
I don't get it either. Why don't more people just buy electric cars? Oh that's right, they cost 50 grand.
If you use the roads you should help pay for the roads. Pretty simple concept. Not sure why everyone tries to complicate it.Â
Electrics already pay road taxes - in the doubled licensing fees! Why should they pay TWICE?