Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are trying to devise new ways to raise that fuel tax revenue, which in fiscal year 2020 delivered $35 billion to the federal government and an additional $51 billion to state and local governments. But experts say that proposed fixes to the anticipated highway funding shortfall – involving charging drivers for the miles they travel by tracking their movement – pose a significant threat to personal privacy and liberty.
Friday, August 12, 2022
Commentary: Electric Car Drivers May Not Be Pumped over Privacy-Jolting Mileage Taxes
The environmental impact of electric cars may still be unknown, but leaders are growing concerned about the threat they pose to the financing of the nation’s highway system. Because freeways and bridges are funded, in large part, through federal and state taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, the battery-powered future will test whether roads can just be paved with good intentions.
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Tax them by the mile and hit them with a large license plate fee. They deserve it.
ReplyDeleteThat's cute, thinking the government will stop taxing by the mile with only electric vehicles.
DeleteWith the ongoing war on internal combustion engines taxing traditional cars/trucks twice makes real sense.
DeleteOne tax on the fuel and another on the miles driven, if you don't like being taxed twice buy an electric car.
That was the argument after they forced gas prices up.
"Because freeways and bridges are funded, in large part, through federal and state taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel"
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, the fuel used to run all those generators needed to charge EVs STILL pay those taxes for these same highways.
😇😉😊😂😎
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But in order to dedicate the consumption you'd have to put a separate *#$_&!? meter on the car charging circuit in your home/charging station right?
DeleteOff road fuel doesn't have to pay road taxes...
DeleteDo “they” still allow farm (red-nonroad tax) diesel....?
ReplyDeleteIs there such a thing as farm (nonroad tax) gas.....?
Dad ran red in dozers.
Ed357
Theoretically, some agencies can check the diesel in your vehicle to see if it is dyed or not. I have also heard of one case where a guy making his own bio-diesel was charged for not paying the road tax on it.
DeleteI see a lot of guys already figuring out ways to hack through it.
ReplyDeleteFrom Nov 2021, "Earlier this year, an analysis by Irvine based researchers Stillwater Associates found Californians were paying at least $1.18 cents per gallon in taxes and fees alone. That number fluctuates by a few cents depending on sales tax calculations, which vary by city."
ReplyDeleteSo, realistically, electric cars can expect these taxes to add additional running costs of roughly $1.18 for every ?30? miles of travel. Assuming travel of 12,000 miles a year that's roughly $4,248.
That's going to bite into the cost/benefit analysis quite sharply.
Pretty straightforward, really. Cars have odometers. Gov't doesn't need to know where, just how much. There are already severe penalties for tampering with the odometer. Simply have the existing wifi connected electric car report mileage -nothing else- and bill the credit card monthly. Or send in a mileage report monthly. No, you can't lie, because you tie that to the odometer reading on the title- if there's a discrepancy at sale, owner gets a bill/ can't transfer clear title.
ReplyDeleteNo different than paying other taxes by payroll deduction. If you want more info than how many miles, that's a problem, but just miles isn't the issue. Can even break the miles out by state so state road revenues will reflect in-state mileage (gas purchases basically do that now). It's only a privacy problem if you allow collection of more data than needed (yes, gov't will try- don't allow it).
The very low energy density vs gasoline really makes off road (eg, farm use) a non issue right now.
There’s always a Plan B for those of us that know what their plan a was we have a Plan B mine forgetting to tell them that I converted a car to electric
ReplyDeleteI've been saying this for years. Soon, they'll be using the GPS already installed in your vehicle or mandate one be installed. Then, they can track EVERYTHING you do. Don't dare speed...
ReplyDeleteI believe that how big rig road tolls are collected in the EU right now. The black box in the truck knows exactly when and where it drove, via GPS, and .gov gets paid accordingly. Makes it easy to implement congestion charges as well.
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