Say NO to Extra EV Taxes in Arizona!
Electric vehicles (EVs) offer big benefits to Arizona, from savings on fuel and maintenance for EV drivers, to cleaner air and improved health for all Arizonans.
Just when the state is attracting new investment and jobs into the state with EV manufacturing from Lucid Motors and Nikola, legislators are trying to slow down this momentum by putting a new tax on EV drivers.
Bills SB1108 and HB2437 both raise taxes on EV owners when the vehicle is registered, far beyond what a dirty gas car driver currently pays for registration. EV drivers in Arizona already pay local electricity taxes and plug-in hybrid EV drivers already pay gas taxes. Arizona legislators should simply not impose any additional tax.
Make your voice heard and say NO to EV taxes!
I agree with @Harry Parker. If this is truly meant to be a road use tax to maintain the roads, then all vehicles can pay the tax during annual vehicle registration. The tax rate can be based on the weight class of the vehicle since heavier vehicles put more wear and tear on the roads and lighter vehicles put less. Assume everyone drives 15k miles per year. If one drives less than 15k, one can provide the odometer reading to get a slight discount each year. Individual choice but the odometer reading is subject to audits every 5 years or so that people don't take advantage of the system. It doesn't matter if the vehicle has 2 wheels, 3 wheels, 4 wheels or 18 wheels. It doesn't matter if the vehicle is ICE (gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane), hybrid electric, battery electric or fuel cell electric.
It would be MOST equitable to simply drop fuel-based taxes and levy a "road use" tax on all motor vehicles, regardless of their power source.
Seems fair to me to charge EVs more for licensing since no money is collected from gas for road tax. Users of the roads should pay for the roads.
What I don't understand is subsidizing people for buying expensive luxury cars just because they are EVs.
Mississippi enacted a $150 annual "road tax" on all EVs and a $75 annual "road tax" on all hybrids and electric motorcycles. This is approximately TWICE what the average ICE driver pays in fuel tax at the pump per year in our state - but our state legislature is pretty much owned by the oil companies...
Washington State has levied a hefty surcharge to register EVs for some years now. Since I drive some 20k miles per year, it works out to being roughly equivalent to what I would pay in gas tax. For the majority of folks who drive less, it is rather more. I vaguely recall something about the extra going to EV charging infrastructure. Not sure that's credible though.
I already did...the Republican leadership in this state are real wacky. But EVs are making some headway here, regardless, with both parties.
Someone has to pay for the highways.