Debate in the USA: E-car drivers should pay extra

As the electric car market share increases, US state revenues from gasoline taxes will decrease. Many have therefore decided to introduce a special tax or fee for e-cars.

President Joe Biden was clearly having fun sitting behind the wheel of an electric Ford F 150 in mid-May. Step on the gas once, and off you go – amid the laughter of the audience. The F 150, a pickup truck, is the best-selling car in the United States.

The fact that Ford will soon be launching it as an electric car is good news for Biden. Because: “The future of the automotive industry is electric,” said the President at the time in Michigan. He wants as many cars as possible to be on the US roads with zero emissions – so that he can achieve his goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Many states have a special tax or fee

But anyone who opts for an electric car or a plug-in hybrid will find that saving fuel can actually cost something in the USA. Almost 30 states have decided to introduce a special tax or fee for Stromer. Because: if you don’t have to fill up, you don’t pay any gasoline tax – and the gasoline tax is used to maintain roads and bridges.

An extra tax for e-cars is a question of fairness, for example for Andrew Learned, Senator in Florida. Everyone has to pay their share, whether they drive a $ 90,000 Tesla or a $ 20,000 gasoline engine, the Democrat said on local television.

Different models

The gasoline tax is made up of different components. The federal government in Washington has been using around three euro cents per liter for years. Florida puts another seven cents on top. Local media report that this brings the state around four billion dollars a year. If there is less fuel, there is not enough money for the infrastructure. Senator Learned and others therefore want electric cars in Florida to pay an extra fee of the equivalent of 114 euros annually.

The state of Oklahoma has considered a different model. Here, three cents per kilowatt hour are due at certain charging points. In addition, the equivalent of 93 euros must be paid annually to register the vehicle in Oklahoma. Plug-in hybrids cost less.

Debate on infrastructure tax at federal level

At the federal level, too, there is a lot of thought about asking owners of e-cars for a kind of infrastructure fee. “Right now they’re free riders because they don’t pay gasoline taxes,” said Republican Senator Susan Collins. She would like to help finance the President’s large infrastructure package. But Biden’s government is apparently determined to prevent that from happening. Special taxes don’t fit in with their plans to promote e-cars.

Incidentally, the gasoline engines are also supposed to become more environmentally friendly. In the next few weeks, the EPA will propose that new cars should only consume the equivalent of around 4.5 liters from 2026, reports the “New York Times”. For comparison: the F 150 pick-up consumes eleven liters.