Plug-in America Editorial about Plug-in Road fees Electric Vehicle Road Usage Fees Wow they seem to have changed from (a few years ago) that plug-ins should *eventually* pay road taxes, to now it is unfair for the unforeseeable future. Gee I am not so sure it is productive to fight a reasonable fee.
Too bad they can't just Road tax off of vehicle weight. After all, the lighter the vehicle, the less damage it does to the roads. Ergo if you drive a 3-ton Hummer or a model X, you will pay higher then if you drive a EV smart car vs Fiat gas buener. But when did Common Sense ever factor into political decisions. .
as a government incentive, it makes sense to wait. but like anything else, it is political and will have different viewpoints.
If the reasonable fee is tech neutral and applies to all cars, I agree. Trying to cover budget short falls for road maintenance onto a minority of the current cars using the roads isn't reasonable.F On a road designed for commercial traffic, the damage caused difference between your examples becomes a rounding error. Under the goal of funding road maintenance, the higher fee for the heavier cars would be under $1 in difference. Then weather might cause more damage than the personal vehicle traffic. Simpler to keep a flat fee or mileage rate the same for all passenger vehicles, and cover the weight difference through the consumption taxes on the fuels since heavier vehicles will tend to use more fuel for a given distance. Equivalent Single Axle Load - Pavement Interactive
