Newly Proposed Legislature For Taxing Electric Cars
Posted by: Alexa Wright / Category: Electric CarsThough many are seeking out electric cars due to the popularity of being “green,” most who are shopping for electric cars are more concerned about saving green. After all, the biggest benefit of an electric car is not having to pay for gas, right? While this is so, it also means that drivers of electric vehicles don’t pay the gasoline tax and thus, don’t pull their share when it comes to paying for road maintenance and construction.
The state of Oregon is already seeing action taken to impose these new taxes on electric car owners, forcing them to pay what many think is simply their fair share. Proposed by the Road User Fee Task Force, House Bill 2328 attempts to impose a per mile vehicle usage charge starting with the 2014 model year. Not only would this include fully electric cars, but gas-electric hybrids as well.
Even though just mentioning this idea is enough to make electric car owners and supporters upset, many find House Bill 2328 to be a fairly reasonable proposition. Taking a look into the bill, the so called “vehicle usage charges” are not at all outrageous and still leave room for savings over driving a gasoline powered vehicle by far. With only a 0.6 cent per mile tax, you could go ten thousand miles for just a bit over $50 in fees.
One of the most questioned factors of taxing electric vehicles by the mile is how exactly to track the mileage. It is very possible to develop a system that tracks your mileage and location using GPS technology, but unsurprisingly, most citizens are not very comfortable with the government tracking where they go. The next thought that comes to mind is tracking mileage manually, perhaps once a year. However, this method would leave it to the driver to simply record their out of state mileage, and it would be very hard to regulate.
Though House Bill 2328 may not be the answer to taxing electric vehicles, it is definite proof that the popularity of electric vehicles is gaining momentum and provisions must be taken to adapt to a growing amount of electric and gas-electric hybrids. It will be interesting to see what legislative action lies in the future for electric car owners.
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