Overview
- House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders plan to begin work in April on a five-year surface transportation bill, and Chairman Sam Graves wants to include an annual fee of up to $250 on electric vehicles.
- Competing ideas remain on the table, including a Senate-discussed one-time $1,000 charge, with no final policy set ahead of the current law’s Sept. 30 expiration.
- Lawmakers say the goal is to collect revenue from vehicles that do not pay the federal 18.4-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax used for road and transit projects.
- The federal gas tax generates about $40 billion a year versus roughly $60 billion in typical transportation outlays, intensifying pressure to find new user-based funding.
- Analyses indicate a $250 yearly charge would reduce EV owners’ fuel-cost savings, and advocacy groups point to existing state registration and charging fees as added burdens.