Tax on Hybrids

[MtnMarty]

So the state of NC in its wisdom is proposing a tax of $50/year on hybrid cars and $100 on electric cars to offset the decrease in payment of road taxes paid via sales tax on gasoline. Great!

[AzureBlue]

While the flat rate may be kind of a blunt instrument, I do understand the need for all drivers to contribute to the maintenance of roads. 

[joe]

We have a $65 a year tax on hybrids and electrics in Virginia.  I too understand the rationale for the tax.  The problem is that that some SUV hybrids get mpgs in the 20s while some gas powered cars get in the high 30s.  To be fare, the tax should be on any car that EPA rates at or above, e.g., 35 mpg overall average.  Gasoline cars that get mpg are also paying less road tax.  So the tax should be on a vehicles mpg rating, not on its type.

Edited May 28, 2013 by joe

[fotomoto]

While the flat rate may be kind of a blunt instrument, I do understand the need for all drivers to contribute to the maintenance of roads. 

 

Agreed but..........  they're also punishing the social behavior they are trying to build via tax credits and HOV access.  

 

How's this:  flat rate for all vehicles and continue the fuel use tax/gallon.  Everyone pays their fair share but inefficient fuel vehicles will still pay more  And since most of these gas hogs are larger and heavier vehicles (there are minor exceptions), they cause more wear & tear to road surfaces.

 

Another suggestion from other forums:  tax based upon mileage that is recorded/tallied at inspection time or upon selling. 

[MtnMarty]

I agree with all of you. Yes, we should encourage good social/environmental practice, but we do have to contribute to the upkeep of roads. But Doug's point is well taken. A monster hybrid truck getting 28 mpg should be teated differently than my Maxy.

[StoBro2]

How about a tax that's proportional to vehicle miles driven and vehicle weight?

 

The need to rebuild existing crumbling roads is proportional to the square of the weight difference- for example, a single 10-ton truck equals the damage created by 25 2-ton passenger cars.

 

The need to expand capacity is proportional to the number of vehicle miles driven.

 

Slapping a tax on a specific technology is wrong headed. First of all, hybrids derive all of their power from the gas in the tank. The technology just makes it more efficient. Plug-in hybrids and full electrics are different animals, and CNG, LNG, hydrogen fuel cells and who knows what other technology is coming eventually. Taxing weight and distance traveled is at least technology-neutral.

[Riddley]

This state's response is too simplistic. Here are a few simple questions:

• What is the increase in health care costs related to treating the side effects of pollution? 
• What costs did society have to pay to help clean up the oil spills in Alaska and the Gulf Coast? 
• What costs will society have to pay to clean up from tidal surges in the North East that many scientists attribute to climate change?
• It has been widely reported that the extremely violent storms like the Oklahoma tornado last week are likely to happen more frequently as we go through climate change. What about those costs?

The last thing I want to see is a debate about climate change, but if you isolate and legislate for just one cost: maintaining roads, and ignore all the other costs that are in part mitigated by driving electric or hybrid cars, you are being woefully shortsighted. There are reasons why the society and governments want to encourage drivers to purchase and use vehicles that have a smaller carbon footprint.      

[ScubaDadMiami]

Agreed.  They should not punish those that are contributing to lessening our dependence of foreign oil, reducing pollution, etc.  Yet, as gas tax revenues drop, they have to do something to make up for the lost revenue.  Of course, they could just keep adding higher gas taxes to an ever smaller growing pool of taxpayers--as everyone switches over to new technologies--which would bring them back to reduced revenues yet again.  So, they could either tax the new technologies or come up with some kind of other tax.  Sooner or later, choices will have to be made.

 

There is no fun answer here: bad roads or higher taxes, etc. 

[valkraider]

Weight damages roads. Not type of power train. :)

 

I would propose this:

 

Starting in 2014 for all registered vehicles regardless of type:

 

Annual fee:

1 cent per pound following this formula:

Curb Weight + (GVWR - Curb Weight)/2

 

(In English: GVWR would not be fair to trucks and Curb Weight would not be fair to cars - so split the difference. That accounts for some loads to be carried by trucks.)

 

The tax shall be minimum 1¢ per pound, but also indexed to inflation. So if inflation happens the tax goes up accordingly to account for increased costs with regard to labor or materials.

 

100% of this tax restricted by law to pay for road maintenance; no greenfield new construction or expansion projects allowed. Only to maintain what we have already built.

 

Fees paid at normal time of registration payment.

 

My motorcycle would cost $8 a year and my truck would be about $70 a year. My CMax Energi would be about $50 a year. My utility trailer would be about $3 a year.

 

There. Fair. Adjusted for inflation. Used for maintenance.

[MikeB]

Weight damages roads. Not type of power train. :)

 

1 cent per pound following this formula:

Curb Weight + (GVWR - Curb Weight)/2

Yep, weight is what damages roads, not gas. And to be technical, I think it's actually weight squared. My car and my motorcycle now get about the same MPG, but the different in road impact is enormous. In the interest of not completely destroying the trucking industry, I'd be ok with a tax that was linear based on Valk's formula.

[valkraider]

Most states already tax the trucking industry on a per weight basis. (Sometimes a weight-mile tax).

 

These would be taxes applied only to light or medium duty vehicles - there could be a GVWR cut off which changes the calculation system for vehicles designed to carry large amounts of cargo.