||| FROM KOMO-TV SEATTLE |||
Washington State House Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey introduced legislation to phase in a road usage charge for drivers to lessen the state’s reliance on the gas tax.
But Fey acknowledged that after years of stakeholder meetings and feedback, it would likely be a voluntary program to start. Fey released the anticipated details during a press conference Tuesday in Olympia. A public hearing [was] scheduled for Thursday.
“For over a century the gas tax has served as a user fee, funding our roads and bridges. With more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles, that revenue is disappearing,” said Fey. “The RUC ensures that all drivers contribute fairly by paying for their road usage, rather than paying by the gallon of gas they consume.”
If passed, House Bill 1921 would gradually transition Washington state to a road usage charge system over the next 10 years. The transition would begin with passenger vehicles under 10,000 pounds.
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This is a wonderful idea. Want to save money? Drive less.
Want to reduce the CO2 emissions? Drive less. As little as we drive on these Islands it’s a way better system.
An annual tax surcharge on electric vehicles would be a lot simpler to implement and a whole lot less invasive of EV driver’s privacy.
Ken – there already is a surcharge on EVs in WA state, and it’s pretty severe, almost punitive for those of us who drive little, and stay on-island. I mostly drive a used 2017 Fiat 500e electric vehicle, that I bought on-island for ~$9k. It never leaves the island, it only is driven on private and county roads.
My most recent registration fee for this vehicle was $303.25. $225 of that were EV-related charges. By way of contrast, my 2018 Toyota Tacoma pickup was $126.25 to renew.
Registration License – Renewal $30.00
Transportation Electrification $75.00
Electric Vehicle Registration Renewal $150.00
Additional Vehicle Weight Fee $10.00
Vehicle Weight $25.00
Registration Filing $4.50
Registration Service Fee $8.00
License Plate Technology $0.25
Department of Licensing Service $0.50
Total $303.25
Exceedingly complex bill. The TVW broadcast of the hearing (click on “introduced legislation” and scroll to the bottom to access the hearing recording).
Major takeaway is it will require years to implement, significant new Washington State staffing, and Federally recognized tribes would negotiate their participation and fees. Big picture stated intent is to not increase road fee use greater than what is now being collected plus inflation and future legislative transportation funding action.
Brian Ehrmantraut’s post shows Washington State already has a workable low cost, simple system in place to collect revenue from electric vehicle users.
I see little to nothing to benefit Washington State by making something now administratively simple migrate to a complex and expensive system to implement as described in the proposed legislation.
Add to this legislative proposal the issue of electric vehicle sales decreasing and the current federal government is increasingly in disarray most Republicans climate change deniers, and this bill should not advance.
There are a variety of ways to run the numbers on this issue. If one drives a gas or diesel burner the amount of gas taxes that an individual would pay is based on how many miles they drive and how many miles per gallon their vehicle burns. In looking at it this way it becomes clear that those who drive an EV, (and possibly charges for free at one of the local charging stations), is making out better than the poor person who can only afford a beater and has to drive 20 miles round trip to work each day, or someone who drives a diesel truck, or a piece of machinery, (think a farmer for example). Though things would become even more complicated if one were to view the numbers involving the ecological footprint of an EV world as compared to a gas/diesel world… as you can imagine, those of you who are driving EV powered vehicles are the envy of many. The bottom line, however, is as Norris suggests, “if you want to save money and reduce CO2 emissions– drive less.”
“So, is the global EV market crashing? Not quite. While growth is slowing, this follows the rapid plug-in increases in both volume and share in 2021 and 2022. But global EV sales are still increasing, up by 22% in the first half of 2024, outperforming the total market growth of 3.7% by a wide margin.”
Bloomberg NEF 11/24/24
https://about.bnef.com/blog/are-global-ev-sales-really-slowing-down/#:~:text=EV%20sales%20growth%20is%20slowing,global%20vehicle%20sales%20this%20year.
Dept. of Revenue Motor vehicle fuel tax rates– https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/tax-incentives/deductions/motor-vehicle-fuel-tax-rates
Gasoline Tax Rate–
State Rate/Gallon is $0.494 + Federal Rate/Gallon $0.184 = Combined State & Federal Tax Rate/Gallon $0.678 p/Gal.
Diesel Tax Rate–
State Rate/Gallon is $0.494 + Federal Rate/Gallon $0.244 = Combined State & Federal Tax Rate/Gallon $0.738 p/Gal.
So, if you were to drive a gas powered vehicle a conservative 10 miles per day and your vehicle got–
30MPG you would pay $83 p/yr. in gas taxes,
20MPG you would pay $124 p/yr. in gas taxes,
10 MPG you would pay $247 p/yr. in gas taxes.
Of course, if you were to drive an average of 20 miles per day (MPD) it would be twice the above amount, 30 miles per day three times that amount, etc.