INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
a doozy in there for drivers of electric vehicles and hybrids
As part of the Republican Party's ongoing war against science and the environment under President Trump, committee chairperson Sam Graves
(R-Mo.) has included some new annual fees that will cost all drivers some, but some drivers more.Republicans plan to use the budget
reconciliation process to pass this legislation, which is an expedited process that removes some of the US Senate's ability to stall
They're proposing a new annual federal motor vehicle registration fee, which state DMVs would have to collect and pass back to the federal
government.If it passes, all battery EVs would be subject to a new $200 tax
But someone who commutes 90 miles a day in a particulate-belching Ford F-350 Duramax diesel pickup truck gets away with a mere $20 a year,
and only from October 1, 2030; until then they get to drive for free.To make things even better, the bill requires these fees to be linked
to inflation and should be increased each year, until 2034 when the tax expires for unelectrified vehicles, or 2035, the last year that EVs
and hybrids would be taxed like this
So, a $200 registration fee in 2026 becomes a $250 registration fee in 2035.Not everyone will have to pay, however
The bill exempts commercial vehicles, which should see a rush from tax avoiders to register their vehicles under their businesses, similar
to what we saw during the George W
Bush administration, when a change in the tax law meant businesses could claim a $100,000 tax credit if they purchased a truck or SUV that
weighed more than 6,000 lbs
Farm vehicles are also exempt from the law.With EV adoption as low as it is in the US, the sums raised by these EV and hybrid charges will
be essentially a rounding error in the federal budget, which this year should top $7 trillion
The Eno Center for Transportation calculates that this new tax will contribute an extra $110 billion to the highway Trust Fund by 2035 but
fee doesn't further dampen EV adoption in the US, that is.
