this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
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It’s gets better. Even if you find an EV, the states tax you more than an ICE car. Texas has a $200 yearly fee to supposedly make up for lost gas tax revenue. But at 20c/gallon and assuming 30mpg, I’d have to drive 30,000 miles to offset that cost (only drove about 8,500 miles per year).
And now they want to do the same at the Federal level with another $150 tax (federal taxes are 18c/gallon), which would be another 25,000 miles.
So I would be taxed $350/year to offset “gas tax losses”, which would only even out for me if I were to drive 55,000 miles in a year.
I heard about that, and that's crazy. You gotta love all that freedom. 🤥
I don't drive nearly that much either.
I understand the logic of the tax on gas to pay for roads, but here an EV is taxed less because it pollutes less. USA needs more of that.
But even that doesn’t really hold up. Gas tax depending on state, generally covers less than half of road maintenance and is already unfair because of hybrids and other efficient vehicles.
And the bulk of the damage is probably from big trucks anyway
Realistically we should be taxing by weight and miles driven as the former causes the most damage to the roads. At that point the propulsion type and efficiency don’t really matter. EVs actually would be taxed more given that they’re heavier, but it’d also proportionately tax trucks and larger vehicles correctly at that point.
You could easily implement it with a yearly odometer reading with your registration or inspection and every car has a GVWR registered with it.
Yes that would be fair, but IMO there should be an environment tax on gas.
How about just metering charging infrastructure and taxing by the kilowatt hr? Power consumed is directly proportional to the weight, distance, and rate of travel. A simple mandate that all home charging stations have to have a wireless or remote-readable meter attached, and all public fast-chargers are taxed by KWh. Easy, simple, and nearly frictionless.
No, that doesn’t work. You can charge anywhere.
If you watch that “Technology Connections” video that keeps going around Lemmy, you should not waste your money on a home charging station
A home charging station is just a convenience. A really nice convenience that I highly recommend, but unnecessary
And if we’re trying to be fair, that’s really not true either. There’s a wide range of efficiencies for different vehicles. On the extreme end, if Aptera succeeds, those drivers would pay nothing. More importantly, this also gives them another opportunity to charge unfairly to defend ICE vehicles
Simple weight and miles, regardless of technology and efficiency, and recorded at annual inspection or purchase/sale - ideally also keep the gas tax to help pay for its impact on the environment
So by that logic you don't have to pay tax for electric consumption, right? Right? Damn USA became such a cesspool...