Washington State May Pass Electric Car Fee

In interesting electric car news,  the Associated Press is reporting that the state of Washington is considering imposing an electric car tax. If passed, owners of electric cars would have to pay a $100 annual fee, which would be the nation’s first electric car fee. The proposed bill would go into effect March 2012.

“Electric vehicles put just as much wear and tear on our roads as gas vehicles,” said Democratic state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, the bill’s lead sponsor. “This simply ensures that they contribute their fair share to the upkeep of our roads.”

However, Washington isn’t the only place trying to find solutions to this growing problem. Other states, like Oregon and Mississippi, are attempting to solve the problem, as cars become more fuel-efficient and move toward not using any gas at all.

According to the article, Plug In America, a California-based electric car advocacy group, has come out against the proposed flat fee and has urged the state to consider one based on odometer readings that owners would self-report each year.

“Electric vehicle drivers certainly want to pay their fair share,” said Jay Friedland, the group’s legislative director. “The danger you get into is if you treat electric vehicles in some radically different way than you treat the rest.”

However, such use-based fees could end up costing drivers more, driving up the actual electric car cost. Many people are seeking out an electric car dealer to look at their options and see if it would be the best financial and lifestyle fit. If we start to see electric car prices come down a bit, we may even see more individuals opting for this environmentally-friendly option.

“Washington’s 37.5-cents-per-gallon fuel tax costs the average driver about $200 a year, transportation officials say,” the article states. “That’s equivalent to driving roughly 12,000 miles in a vehicle that gets 23 mpg.”

That tax is piled onto the total purchase of gas and does not stand alone from the price of gas.

What are supporters saying about the bill? Proponents of the proposed bill say the electric vehicle fee would raise hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to support the state’s public highway system. The bill would generate an estimated $376,000 in its first full year.

According to the article, in the 2010 fiscal year, there were just over 1,300 electric-powered vehicles registered with the Department of Licensing.

In a report released last month, officials say that dwindling gas tax collections would result in transportation revenues decreasing $25 million between the current biennium and the 2011-2013 budget period. The decline has gone hand-in-hand with improved vehicle mileage and a drop-off in revenues from the last major round of statewide tax increases, more than five years ago, leaving lawmakers scrambling for solutions, said Sen. Dan Swecker, one of the co-sponsors of proposed fee, the article states.

There has been criticism from members of both parties, saying its projected revenues aren’t adequate to risk discouraging potential electric car buyers. However, lawmakers say that the discussion about the measure underscored a larger challenge. The article quotes Rep. Chris Reykdal as saying, “How can lawmakers create a new system to maintain the transportation infrastructure that “makes more sense than what we have today?”

The bill has passed the state Senate but has not yet come up for a vote before the full House, so we shall see what is to come of it.