AutoInformed

What happens to the  badly depleted Highway Trust Fund as the use of EVs grows and gasoline taxes no longer apply? Right now about 1% of the U.S. vehicle fleet is electric, but automakers and governments are moving toward a fossil-fuel free economy, with implications for the “business-as-usual” Congress when or if voters realize that the roads can get even worse than they are now. The federal gasoline excise tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel right now. Attempts to raise it since October of 1993 have failed. Worse, it is not indexed to inflation. If it were it would be roughly 80% higher. The low-profile debate about the issue recently arose in a Congressional hearing that went largely unnoticed.

CBO said that if Congress were to levy an annual fee on EVs in an amount that is approximately proportionate with the amount paid in gasoline tax? Taking as a starting point an average driver of a light duty passenger vehicle with a gasoline engine, how much revenue could be raised during the next five years? Moreover, what percent of the anticipated shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund would that be? Continue reading →