$130 A Year For EV Drivers? Lawmakers Push Federal Road-Use Fee As Advocacy Groups Push Back

"U.S. lawmakers proposed bipartisan legislation that would impose a $130 annual fee on electric car drivers. "The BUILD America 250 Act ensures that electric vehicle owners begin paying their fair share for the use of our roads," said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, Republican of Missouri. The federal gas tax helps fund road repairs across the country, but EV drivers don't pay it. A new transportation funding bill aims to plug that gap by reviving a fee on electric car drivers that has been pitched numerous times on Capitol Hill."

"Starting in 2029, the $130 fee would increase by $5 annually until it hits $150. The policy would also charge plug-in hybrid drivers $35 a year. EV and environmental advocacy groups slammed the move. "This draft includes an irresponsible tax for EV and plug-in hybrid drivers that will fail at meaningfully closing the Highway Trust Fund shortfall," said Katherine Garcia, director of Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All Campaign. "Now is the time to incentivize, not penalize, clean transportation options that curb emissions harmful to our health and climate.""

"Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, said he "understands the need to maintain the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund," but called the proposed fee "simply a punitive tax that would disproportionately impact adopters of electric vehicles, with no meaningful impact on maintain the HTF." Run the numbers, and you quickly see that the critics have a point. For starters, the federal gas tax of 18.3 cents a gallon h"

A bipartisan proposal would impose an annual fee on electric vehicle drivers to fund highway road repairs. The federal gas tax currently supports the Highway Trust Fund, but electric vehicle owners do not pay it. The bill would begin charging a $130 fee in 2029 and increase it by $5 each year until it reaches $150. Plug-in hybrid drivers would pay $35 annually. Environmental and electric vehicle advocacy groups criticized the plan as an irresponsible or punitive tax that would not meaningfully close the Highway Trust Fund shortfall. They argued that incentives should support clean transportation options that reduce emissions harmful to health and climate.

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