this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
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Electric Vehicles
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I’m sympathetic to the argument that we replace the 18.5 cents per gallon federal tax with something EV drivers (myself included) still pay. But it should incentivize further EV adoption and not discourage it, and should somehow scale with miles driven (incentives fewer miles driven.)
Tax the tires - those are a major source of pollution for EVs and gas autos alike.
It should be something everybody pays. Not just EV drivers. The only fair road tax is to measure the distance driven every year during a car inspection and use the car/truck/bus weight to charge per mile driven.
This is the perfect time to switch to a mileage tax, because you can get rid of the tax at the pump and politically look like a “winner”, while actually bringing in more revenue. The gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993.
There a privacy implication for the tracking mileage I’m not thrilled with, and would support an opt-out but paying more than average system.
Gas tax is/was ingenious because it was not privacy invasive and scaled perfectly with use. But not applicable in the age of EVs.
You could do a mileage one based on odometer inspection with a check for tampering. Require it as part of an annual safety inspection. Would be non-intrusive and mostly work ok
What inspection? Nearly everything happens at the state level, if at all. The only ongoing task required from my state is plates/registration, which is just some minor paperwork, a sticker, and a fee. One that's already higher because of EVs. And I only have to do it every 5 years. There are no inspection facilities anywhere near here.
About half the states require a regular inspection including an emissions test
Yeah, you have to renew your registration annually anyway. Just add a field for the odometer reading, and there you go.
North America does not do any annual safety inspections.
~~True but most states do~~
Edit: I was wrong, see replies
14/50 states have annual inspections. 28% is not most, but please check my math.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_United_States
Huh, cool. Thanks for the FYI
This fair share concept is crazy to me. The vast majority of road wear comes from Semi Trucks, to why doesn't anyone want them to pay their fair share?
If the funding comes from a federal fuel tax, then the higher per gallon tax on diesel (and the much higher fuel consumption that cargo trucks have) mean they actually do.
You must be in Europe. Vehicles in North America are not inspected. They drive until they fall apart.
As always, that depends on the state. Some states actually have mandatory safety/emissions testing every year.
14 of 50. US road safety is a joke, Canada is even worse.
How about an EV fast charger tax? Same as gas.
If you charge at home, it’s tax free. Just like a gas tank in your back yard would be, I assume.
I think Republicans would buy that too, as it’s still technically “EV negative” and not very visible to constituents (just like the gas tax).
How'd you get gas in your backyard tank without paying the tax? And if charging at home is tax free that just benefits the wealthier home owners more than that (probably less wealthy on average) renter.
Greasel (diesel-vegetable oil conversion) is a thing, albeit uncommon. That would probably be the closest analogue.
I assumed it would be wholesale prices. I guess cracking and refining oil yourself, or brewing biofuel, would be the analogue to backyard solar or whatever.
Part of the point is that “home gas” for local commutes and such is hilariously impractical, whereas that’s not the case for EVs.
Farmers are able to get diesel fuel without paying the tax. It’s dyed red if I recall correctly. It wasn’t super uncommon for a farmer to get his truck inspected to make sure he wasn’t driving on the roadways with untaxed fuel.
I quite like that idea, but would worry that home charging would leave too much road maintenance unfunded. Maybe a combination of a low flat EV fee and your fast charger tax.
I dunno. Psychologically, buyers don’t like an upfront tax. It’s just how our monkey brains are.
…How about an EV tax proportional to vehicle mass, or maybe battery mass/capacity? With a cutoff for tiny, cheap EVs. This would tax commercial vehicles and ridiculous luxury EVs like the Hummer EV, but incentivize small EVs or plug in hybrids. And it “makes sense” because heavy, long range vehicles wear roads more.
We like to subsidize heavy trucks with our money and our lives.