Proposed Bill to charge $300 Fee for EV Owners

I'll just summarize my former comments on similar bills in the past:

  • Roads and infrastructure in virtually every state are underfunded. The quality and safety of our roads and bridges suffers as a result.

  • Cars have been becoming more fuel efficient, and drivers buying less gas, every year for decades.

  • In most states, gas taxes are only raised once in a decade or less, and have not been raised sufficiently to keep up with inflation or the expenses they're meant to cover.

  • It is politically much more difficult to raise the gas tax by more than a small amount at a time.

  • Therefore, raising the EV tax to $200 or so may be "more than what I'd pay if I drove an ICE, so unfair!" but actually represent a totally reasonable level for the tax to be at in relation to the infrastructure costs your car imposes on the state.

It's not that EV drivers are overpaying, it's that ICE drivers are underpaying, but a bill that closes the budget gap by raising their tax to the same level in one fell swoop is unlikely to pass in your state legislature. The gas tax is increased less often and more slowly due entirely to politics.

/r/leaf Thread Link - leg.mt.gov