The first EV fuel tax

The only certainty in EVs.

I have been waiting for this. According to kbnd.com, the State of Oregon is planning to implement a fuel tax on electric cars of 0.6 cents per mile. Under a bill in the Sate Legislature, the fee would take the place of the gas tax that electric car owners don't pay and be designated for road maintenance.

Spokesperson Marie Dodds at the Oregon Triple A, which favors the concept of the fee, says an electric car being driven 15,000 miles would rack up $90 a year in mileage fees.

Meanwhile over in Seattle a bill has been proposed to place a $100 annual up-front 'fee' for owners of electric cars, in lieu of gasoline duty. The fee represents approximately half the annual fuel taxes that would normally be paid by a driver filling up at the pump.

What do you think?

Motorists tend to be cash cows and much of the money raised from motorists is not reinvested in transport related projects. Is now the right time to be imposing taxes? In the medium to long term governments will need to find a way to raise revenue from EV motorists, but to do so before the market is even established risks the market itself. Or do you think it is better to get this out in the open from the very beginning? And that a tax based on usage i.e. miles driven, is the fairest approach?

Is saving the day taking precedence over saving the planet? Or is this part of the EV solution?