Efficient Vehicle Tax

[D Borland]

face it. one way or another the government is going to get theirs. the encourage less polluting vehicles but penalize you for getting one. just like cigarette tax. the encourage you not to smoke and tax if you do but they are not saying what will happen when EVERYONE quits smoking and the revenue disappears.

 

[outsydthebox]

face it. one way or another the government is going to get theirs. the encourage less polluting vehicles but penalize you for getting one. just like cigarette tax. the encourage you not to smoke and tax if you do but they are not saying what will happen when EVERYONE quits smoking and the revenue disappears.

They are already working on a "contingency plan"...3rd world countries.

 

[UCF'73]

But the problem is that those statements aren't true anymore.
Someone can 'use' the road just as much in a electric, hybrid, or other HE vehicle as someone driving a gas car - but pay a far disproportionate amount of tax.

Lets do some comparisons using combined MPG, an average of 10k miles per year, and your .4/gal tax:

• 1985 Corvette at 17MPG, pays $235/year
• 1995 Chrysler at 19MPG, pays $210/year
• 2004 Ford Focus at 24mpg, pays $166/year
• 2012 Prius C at 50MPG, pays $80/year
• 2015 Elio at 70**MPG, pays $57/year
• 2013 Nissan leaf at 115MPGe, pays $0/year

All of the above cars are using the exact same roads almost the exact same amount, give or take some weight.
I understand incentivizing efficiency, but that's not what this is about.

You make a good point.

 

[UCF'73]

Neither is the gas tax.[/sarcasm]

I don't know about the federal tax, but our state gas tax goes directly to the highway department for roads and bridges.

 

[samwichse]

Road wear and tear increase by the 4th power of axle weight.

So an Elio barely pays any gas tax (maybe 1/3 that of a Ford Focus), but does 1/16th the damage to the road surface that the Focus does. Even adding in fixed per-use costs like light maintenance and traffic enforcement, it seems like Elio drivers are still paying more than their fair share.

Proposals like this are always sour grapes from people who want to keep wasting gas by commuting in an empty Ram 2500, but want to find a way to make people -- who have made an honest effort to use less gas -- pay for the damage they do.

 

[Sam]

Surely our governments will raise some taxes. They haven't gotten 100% of everyone's money yet. Probably happen before I check out.

 

[JEBar]

I don't know about the federal tax, but our state gas tax goes directly to the highway department for roads and bridges.

I wish ours did .... it goes to the general fund where they spend it on most everything except roads

Jim

 

[HHH]

Hopefully that's just a nasty rumor about high efficiency vehicles. It's in the national interest to encourage improvements to our energy use and policies. Also the EV community can muster a bit of lobby muscle on the side of hybrid and EV tech. Can you imagine the conspiracy theory about big oil in this case? Other Green organizations will fight on the side of high mileage vehicles.

That's not to say the gov's aren't discussing the fact that pure EV's are avoiding taxes needed to maintain roads. And the idea that taxing per gallon is now starving road maintenance given the ever increasing MPG efficiency. Inflation also has impacted that kind of revenue. At minimum they may need to 'add' a tax per dollar spent, which is still a problem with ever reducing consumption. However, the per-gallon tax is still useful since it does not relate to fluctuating fuel prices.

The thing is, as a society, we want to encourage high mileage, so nabbing a hybrid or Elio for being so good at savings, seems counter productive.
So I can see is there will have to be a calculator for gross weight times mileage, or a return to toll paid highways. It may be that all vehicles will eventually also pay per the mileage calculator or they will add a 'per fuel dollar spent' tax. Fact is, the heavier and farther you drive the more road repairs you incur.

It will be a huge divisive inter-party fight to straighten any of that out, making all players look bad. I'm sure it will be delayed until after the next presidential race.

"Ever reducing consumption." First I've heard that less gasoline is being sold. More people, more cars, increased congestion, more mobility doesn't translate into less gasoline (or gasoline/ethanol blends) being sold. Haven't heard of any oil refineries complaining that gasoline consumption is contracting. The rest of your points are valid.

P. S. Updated my avatar from the generic male symbol. Own the bike, but the model did not come with that model.

 

[JEBar]

P. S. Updated my avatar from the generic male symbol. Own the bike, but the model did not come with that model.

what bike ???

Jim

 

[wayne kemp]

The bikes I've owner never had a seat like that.

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