# If cars go electric **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 12, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978 "2016-02-12T22:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/22 "2016-02-18T20:29:49Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > That wouldn’t account for miles spent on private roads, though. I’m not sure about all places, but no where I’ve ever lived involved any driving on private roads. I’d be surprised if I’ve driven more than 10 miles total on private roads in almost 40 years of driving. I’m sure it’s different for some, but is it ever so significant that paying a small per mile annual tax for those miles would be a hardship? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/23 "2016-02-18T22:03:15Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I’m not sure about all places, but no where I’ve ever lived involved any driving on private roads. I’d be surprised if I’ve driven more than 10 miles total on private roads in almost 40 years of driving. I’m sure it’s different for some, but is it ever so significant that paying a small per mile annual tax for those miles would be a hardship? Well, in many states, farms have dozens of miles of private road which constitute the overwhelming majority of the driving mileage of a farm vehicle (such as the farmer’s pickup truck). So you definitely have to compensate for that, considering it would go beyond “small hardship” to “distinct inequity” to tax non-public mileage for someone whose yearly mileage is mostly non-public. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/24 "2016-02-19T11:35:24Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Yes, but it still comes down to implementation. Do you tax income? Do you tax fuel? Do you tax tires? Do you tax car registrations? Do you tax property? Taxing fuel isn’t fair, because electric cars use the roads but don’t use fuel. Taxing tires is better, but just taxing tires is going to make them prohibitively expensive. Taxing car registrations a flat fee is a different option than taxing car registrations per odometer mile. I have no idea. I’ve been a proponent of the general fund. Why tax anything? It’s a public good, and all of your ideas are taxing the user only. Everyone benefits; not just the user. Tax income, since it’s a system that’s already in place. > [@Procrustus](#): > > I’m not sure about all places, but no where I’ve ever lived involved any driving on private roads. I’d be surprised if I’ve driven more than 10 miles total on private roads in almost 40 years of driving. I’m sure it’s different for some, but is it ever so significant that paying a small per mile annual tax for those miles would be a hardship? I don’t really mean people with long driveways, but I’m thinking of ranchers and such. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/25 "2016-02-19T13:30:36Z")
> [@waddlingeagle](#): > > No. The real problem is that all cars burn less gas. Electric cars burn none at all. That’s not entirely true. While the electric car itself burns no gas, the power grid that it sucks from probably does require the burning of fossil fuels. With that in mind, I was initially thinking that if electric cars became more widespread, rising electric rates, or a tax on electric utilities could close the gap you point out. However, that would certainly tax people who don’t use cars, or drive fewer miles. Plus, those with the means can install solar panels and essentially drive on public roads for free. I am now thinking a flat, supplemental road maintenance fee when you register an electric car may be a better option, as electric cars become more widespread. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/26 "2016-02-19T16:09:58Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > That’s not entirely true. While the electric car itself burns no gas, the power grid that it sucks from probably does require the burning of fossil fuels. With that in mind, I was initially thinking that if electric cars became more widespread, rising electric rates, or a tax on electric utilities could close the gap you point out. > > However, that would certainly tax people who don’t use cars, or drive fewer miles. Plus, those with the means can install solar panels and essentially drive on public roads for free. > > I am now thinking a flat, supplemental road maintenance fee when you register an electric car may be a better option, as electric cars become more widespread. It does require a binary proposition with respect to electric vehicles and non-public roads: If you register the vehicle, you bear the full burden of the tax, even if your pickup truck drives 99% of its miles on your farm/ranch only. If you don’t want to do that, don’t register the vehicle, or register it “farm vehicle only” and you can never take it off the farm (on its own wheels), but you won’t be taxed for public roads you otherwise use only slightly. Yeah, I live in a farm state, though not a farmer myself. Even so, the tax dynamics of farming operations matter as an issue of state-wide revenue-and-taxation. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/27 "2016-02-19T18:25:59Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > It does require a binary proposition with respect to electric vehicles and non-public roads: If you register the vehicle, you bear the full burden of the tax, even if your pickup truck drives 99% of its miles on your farm/ranch only. If you don’t want to do that, don’t register the vehicle, or register it “farm vehicle only” and you can never take it off the farm (on its own wheels), but you won’t be taxed for public roads you otherwise use only slightly. > > Yeah, I live in a farm state, though not a farmer myself. Even so, the tax dynamics of farming operations matter as an issue of state-wide revenue-and-taxation. Agree - presuming we eventually get electric pick-up trucks as farming vehicles. Until then, people driving Teslas, Leafs, and Volts or similar new models should bear some burden of wear and tear on roads. Seems a registration fee on these models would be fair. ---
**Author:** ![eastcheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@eastcheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eastcheap)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/28 "2016-02-19T20:23:04Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Well, in many states, farms have dozens of miles of private road which constitute the overwhelming majority of the driving mileage of a farm vehicle. Farmers and ranchers are already burning taxed fuel in their registered vehicles (well, they’re _supposed_ to be), so what difference does it make? In fact, if you shifted the tax from fuel to mileage (presumably linked to registration and/or inspection), you could do away with red diesel entirely and off-road users would probably come out ahead. I know plenty of small contractors and farmers/ranchers who can’t be bothered with red diesel anyway. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978/29 "2016-02-19T20:42:16Z")
If you really want me to pay a road tax for my EV, here’s how you could calculate it. Take the number of miles I drive per year (approximately 6,000). You’re welcome to check my odometer when I renew my tags; I don’t care. Divide by the EPA estimated mpg (combined) for my vehicle (99). That’s roughly 60 gallons of gasoline. Figure how much tax I’d owe if I had bought 60 gallons of gasoline. That comes to $11.04 Federal and $18.66 for the state of Oregon. If the DOT sends me a bill for $29.70 I’ll pay it without complaining. But the proposals I’ve seen usually say something along the lines of taxing an EV $300 per year. That’s outrageous, unless you’re also going to raise the existing gas tax by a factor of ten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-cars-go-electric/745978.md?page=1)