Indiana Lawmakers Propose $150 Annual Fee for Electric Cars

The Indiana House Republicans wants electric vehicle owners to help pay for road repairs and have proposed a $150 annual fee for electric vehicles registered in Indiana. If implemented, Indiana will join 10 other states (Wyoming, Colorado, Virginia, Nebraska, Missouri, Washington, North Carolina, Idaho, Georgia, and Michigan) that already impose fees on electric vehicles.

The bill, submitted by Rep. Ed Soliday, would also impose a $15 annual fee for all registered vehicles in Indiana. That means electric vehicle owners would pay a total fee of $165 per year, reports ABC affiliate RTV6. The proposed electric vehicle fee would not apply to owners of hybrid vehicles. In addition to the increase in fees, the bill would increase the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon.

Your average Indiana driver driving a gasoline-powered car will pay about $63 more per year if this bill passes. The new legislation would cost electric car owners an extra $213 per year, however.

Since electric vehicles do not use gas, they do not contribute to the gas tax that helps in maintaining public roads and highways. Legislators believe that special fees on these types of vehicles will make up for this lost revenue.

Electric car advocates will argue that these new fees might dissuade some people from buying electric cars. Additionally, given the fact that there are local incentive programs and a $7,500 federal tax credit in place to promote the adoption of electric vehicles, these fees might seem counterproductive to that mission.

But fees like this don’t have to be so hard to swallow, and can even be designed to benefit EV owners. According to Green Car Reports, Colorado legislators worked with electric-car advocates to create a system in which revenue from fees goes toward two separate funds, one for infrastructure and one for public charging stations.

Do you think such fees are necessary? Are they fair to EV drivers? Tell us in the comments below.

Source: RTV6, Green Car Reports

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