House Republicans Propose Electric Vehicle Fees to Fund Transportation Programs

Bad idea for 2 reasons.   First the avg amount paid in gas taxes for a person is about $100 a year, so you are penalized for a hybrid or EV.  Second, if you are someone who doesn't drive much, or has a couple cars, maybe a fixed income senior with a Chevy Bolt that drives 4,000 miles a year, now you are paying $250 to drive 4,000 miles vs about $20 in gas tax.

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

Bad idea for 2 reasons.   First the avg amount paid in gas taxes for a person is about $100 a year, so you are penalized for a hybrid or EV.  Second, if you are someone who doesn't drive much, or has a couple cars, maybe a fixed income senior with a Chevy Bolt that drives 4,000 miles a year, now you are paying $250 to drive 4,000 miles vs about $20 in gas tax.

@smk4565with all the good points lately!

I also think that $50b over 10 years in new funding isn’t enough to cover the deficit the Highway dept is facing. If they’ve had to do $275b over 18 years, the math doesn’t add up.

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

@smk4565with all the good points lately!

I also think that $50b over 10 years in new funding isn’t enough to cover the deficit the Highway dept is facing. If they’ve had to do $275b over 18 years, the math doesn’t add up.

I could see maybe if they add a $250 federal tax on all new car purchases as a 1 time fee.  But to charge it every year is both a ripoff and unfair.  Fast forward 20 years and 90% of cars might be EV, so the fund roads through gas tax will be totally obsolete.  And it will be a tax more so on lower income and working people.  And the gas tax basically works that the college student driving a 10 year old Corolla because that is what they can afford, will pay the same road tax as a pro football player in an Escalade.

One, EVERYONE needs to write their House and Senate representatives on this and make sure they are aware of this very imbalanced approach to funding a government department.

With that said, I do not mind paying an equal share for my EV on the roads. Yet if they are going to charge me $250 then it is time to raise the gas tax equal to what Hybrid and EVs must pay.

ICE = 489 gallons of gas X .183 cents per gallon = $89.49 cents per year based on the Governments only numbers.

If they are to charge EVs $250, then they need to raise the Federal gas tax to .511 cents per gallon for equality.

FYI - Using this story and my thoughts above, I wrote my House and Senate representatives on this and this is what I sent them:

 

Hello Suzan, Patty, Maria,

Sam Graves, Republican for Montana and head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is proposing a $250 annual charge for electric vehicles as part of an effort to shore up funding for the national highway system and other transportation projects. Graves stated that with the increase in electric, hybrid and just overall efficiency in internal combustion automobiles that the federal tax collected per mile traveled has dropped, making it a challenge to keep the Federal Highway Administration funded. With the new fees, Republicans hope to raise $50 billion in new funding over the next 10 years. The additional money would go to pay for highway repairs and additional funding for air traffic control. Republicans point out that since 2008, more than $275 billion has been shifted from the general fund to pay for road repairs. 

The federal government has not raised fuel taxes, currently 18.3 cents per gallon, since October of 1993.

The latest proposed fee schedule would be $250 per electric vehicle per year and $100 per hybrid-vehicle per year. An earlier proposal had the electric vehicle fee at $200 per year and also included a $20 per year fee for gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.  The Federal fee would be on top of any state fees imposed. Many states have adopted EV fees to replace the loss in gas tax revenue at the local level.

The federal fees are tied to inflation and would be recalculated each year and grow over time.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has pointed out that the proposed $250 fee would require the average EV owner to pay the equivalent 1366 gallons gas tax while hybrid owners would pay roughly the equivalent of 547 gallons of fuel tax on top of paying 18.3 cents at the pump. For an EV owner, they would be paying as much tax as someone driving 15,000 miles per year in an 11 mpg vehicle.

The average amount of gas used by non-hybrid gasoline vehicles is roughly 489 gallons per year.

I do not mind paying an equal share for my EV on the roads. Yet if they are going to charge me $250 then it is time to raise the gas tax equal to what Hybrid and EVs must pay.

ICE = 489 gallons of gas X .183 cents per gallon = $89.49 cents per year based on the Governments only numbers.

If they are to charge EVs $250, then they need to raise the Federal gas tax to .511 cents per gallon for equality and tie it into inflation so that gas tax goes up just as the Hybrid / EV tax goes up.

With having to pull from the General fund $275 Billion to support the Federal Highway Administration, I find it a little odd that the estimated $50 Billion over 10 years really would make a difference compared to increasing the Federal Gas tax having everyone share in the responsibility to fund our inner state highway system.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely,
G. David Felt

FYI

2024 according to statista.com, 134.55 billion gallons of gas were sold for the year.

At .183 cents federal gas tax, that was $24,622,650,000 billion dollars collected in gas tax.

At .511 center federal gas tax, that would have been $68,755,050,000 Billion collected in gas tax in addition to the Hybrid and EV fee that would be collected for our inner-state highway system.

On 4/29/2025 at 6:54 PM, G. David Felt said:

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has pointed out that the proposed $250 fee would require the average EV owner to pay the equivalent 1366 gallons gas tax while hybrid owners would pay roughly the equivalent of 547 gallons of fuel tax on top of paying 18.3 cents at the pump. For an EV owner, they would be paying as much tax as someone driving 15,000 miles per year in an 11 mpg vehicle.

I'm glad this breakdown was in the article, because this was the first thing I thought of. I didn't think I was paying anywhere close to $250/yr worth of 18.3c gasoline tax, which I'm not, according to those numbers. 

I can understand the EV tax being slightly higher due to the pretty significant weight different, but this is too much. This proposed tax should probably be cut in half, maybe more, IMO. $100/yr doesn't seem unreasonable. 

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I'm glad this breakdown was in the article, because this was the first thing I thought of. I didn't think I was paying anywhere close to $250/yr worth of 18.3c gasoline tax, which I'm not, according to those numbers. 

I can understand the EV tax being slightly higher due to the pretty significant weight different, but this is too much. This proposed tax should probably be cut in half, maybe more, IMO. $100/yr doesn't seem unreasonable. 

I think the 18.3c needs to increase too if we're already having to shift money around to cover things.  And we're not even covering everything with that. The state of bridges here in PA is horrible. They just reduced traffic on a bridge here because they found serious defects. It's a major interstate artery through the city.

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I think the 18.3c needs to increase too if we're already having to shift money around to cover things.  And we're not even covering everything with that. The state of bridges here in PA is horrible. They just reduced traffic on a bridge here because they found serious defects. It's a major interstate artery through the city.

I understand what you're saying, but what does stave vs federal cover when it comes to those roadways? I know we're having a lot of work done to major roads here on the IL side of the Mississippi River right now and it's been a complete mess getting home after work. But, if I remember correctly, our IL state gas tax went up a couple years ago. Surprisingly enough, I did notice more road work after that passed. So hopefully that means the money is actually going where it should. 

For what it's worth, IL's gasoline tax is currently set at 66.5c/gal of gasoline and 0.545c/gal of diesel. IL's the 2nd highest in the nation... The lovely state of IL. 

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

For what it's worth, IL's gasoline tax is currently set at 66.5c/gal of gasoline and 0.545c/gal of diesel. IL's the 2nd highest in the nation... The lovely state of IL. 

I thought PA was second highest.

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

For what it's worth, IL's gasoline tax is currently set at 66.5c/gal of gasoline and 0.545c/gal of diesel. IL's the 2nd highest in the nation... The lovely state of IL. 

I feel your pain as Washington raised this year the gas tax to 55.4 cents per gallon. So if the Feds rais their gas tax to .511 cents per gallon, then tax's become over $1

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

I understand what you're saying, but what does stave vs federal cover when it comes to those roadways? I know we're having a lot of work done to major roads here on the IL side of the Mississippi River right now and it's been a complete mess getting home after work. But, if I remember correctly, our IL state gas tax went up a couple years ago. Surprisingly enough, I did notice more road work after that passed. So hopefully that means the money is actually going where it should. 

The Feds cover a portion most interstates and some national highways. However, the funds are dispersed to the states to administer those highways within their boundaries.  So, for example, I-80 across PA is maintained by PA, but paid for partially by the Feds.  That's why when you cross the border on I-80 into Ohio, the quality of the road immediately improves.

If you're seeing a lot of construction, it also could be the Biden Infrastructure plan. I love that they moved fast with funding these projects, but at least in my area, they seem to have started them all at once and made getting around very difficult.

4 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I thought PA was second highest.

I do not think the current monitoring websites are current with all the new tax raises.

Gas Taxes by State 2025

Average state tax rates for retail gasoline and diesel fuel nearly flat since July 2024 - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

OUCH, Crazy the diesel tax rate of PA

Gas taxes are no joke either.

Raising the gas tax also hits low income people the worst.  Although if they are going to make the EV fee a thing then they should raise gas taxes also to balance it.

They can let the 2017 tax cut expire, that will create a trillion dollars and do a lot more than trying to discourage EV purchases with a $250 annual fee.

12 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Raising the gas tax also hits low income people the worst.  Although if they are going to make the EV fee a thing then they should raise gas taxes also to balance it.

They can let the 2017 tax cut expire, that will create a trillion dollars and do a lot more than trying to discourage EV purchases with a $250 annual fee.

There does need to be some equilibrium.  Yes it hits poor people the most because they tend to drive older and less efficient cars.  At the same time, it really needs to be indexed to inflation the next time they decide to adjust it.   I don't think they should do it all at once to the 50c+ that is being discussed here.

On 5/5/2025 at 7:20 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

@smk4565with all the good points lately!

I also think that $50b over 10 years in new funding isn’t enough to cover the deficit the Highway dept is facing. If they’ve had to do $275b over 18 years, the math doesn’t add up.

That seems to be of little importance in a post truth post reality postmodern world.

15 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I thought PA was second highest.

IL's has skyrocketed in the last 5 years. It doubled in 2019 and has gone up every year since. I believe it's set to go up again in June or July. 

15 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

I do not think the current monitoring websites are current with all the new tax raises.

Gas Taxes by State 2025

Average state tax rates for retail gasoline and diesel fuel nearly flat since July 2024 - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

OUCH, Crazy the diesel tax rate of PA

Gas taxes are no joke either.

Your link and graphics aren't the same information. I am finding it difficult to get an accurate number. 

15 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

I feel your pain as Washington raised this year the gas tax to 55.4 cents per gallon. So if the Feds rais their gas tax to .511 cents per gallon, then tax's become over $1

it would certainly force a lot of people into EVs. $1/gal in tax seems pretty insane. That's, what, 20-40%, depending on your state/area? That's pretty insane. 

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

it would certainly force a lot of people into EVs. $1/gal in tax seems pretty insane. That's, what, 20-40%, depending on your state/area? That's pretty insane. 

I have given up on anything sane happening, but I think inevitably as the dollar weakens under tariffs, taxes will go up because the cost of importing everything will go up under a weakening dollar.

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

IL's has skyrocketed in the last 5 years. It doubled in 2019 and has gone up every year since. I believe it's set to go up again in June or July. 

Your link and graphics aren't the same information. I am finding it difficult to get an accurate number. 

The graphic images are all from the first link and you can organize the graph by state on regular gas or click the header for Diesel and get it shown by state for that fuel type.

The second link show additional info but if you click the link in that second writing by the government, it takes you here where you clearly see the latest taxation per state.

fueltaxes.xlsx

15 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I have given up on anything sane happening, but I think inevitably as the dollar weakens under tariffs, taxes will go up because the cost of importing everything will go up under a weakening dollar.

 

Taxes have to go up if we are to have functional roads, bridges are coming to end of life and need to be replaced.

31 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I have given up on anything sane happening, but I think inevitably as the dollar weakens under tariffs, taxes will go up because the cost of importing everything will go up under a weakening dollar.

 

As someone who lives in an area with actual bridge collapses (right around the corner from where we had lunch years ago @A Horse With No Name) I'm in favor of raising gas taxes to pay for these repairs. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in this. Many of our bridges around here have netting on their undersides to catch the chunks that fall off them.

One bridge, before it was replaced, had another bridge built under it solely to catch concrete falling and was featured on John Oliver.

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

As someone who lives in an area with actual bridge collapses (right around the corner from where we had lunch years ago @A Horse With No Name) I'm in favor of raising gas taxes to pay for these repairs. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in this. Many of our bridges around here have netting on their undersides to catch the chunks that fall off them.

 

One bridge, before it was replaced, had another bridge built under it solely to catch concrete falling and was featured on John Oliver.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...I am all in favor of taxes for infrastructure, I am saying we will be less able to invest in infrastructure because the dollar will be less of a reserve currency and it will cost us more to service our debt.

2 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

The graphic images are all from the first link and you can organize the graph by state on regular gas or click the header for Diesel and get it shown by state for that fuel type.

The second link show additional info but if you click the link in that second writing by the government, it takes you here where you clearly see the latest taxation per state.

fueltaxes.xlsx

Taxes have to go up if we are to have functional roads, bridges are coming to end of life and need to be replaced.

Again, I link Tax increases to a weakening dollar and everything being more expensive.