An article in my newspaper written by Robin Hindery of the AP, states that Washington state legislators are considering a measure to charge owners of electric vehicles a $100 annual fee to compensate the state for EVs not having to pay gasoline taxes. The $100 fee is equivalent to the Washington state fuel tax paid if you were driving a 46 mpg IC vehicle for 12,000 miles a year. The article says that Washington state is grappling with a $5 billion budget deficit and are facing declining gas tax revenue, which means less money to maintain or improve the state's roads. The legislators want people driving electric vehicles to pay their "fair share", according to Democratic state Senator Mary Margaret Haugen, the bill's lead sponsor.
Other states are trying to find solutions to the same problem, as cars become more fuel-efficient and now some don't use any gasoline at all. In Oregon, lawmakers are considering a bill to charge drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles based upon the number of miles they drive. In Mississippi, lawmakers briefly considered a similar plan. In Texas, significant opposition scuttled an electric vehicle fee.
Needless to say electric motorcycles are not even at the edge of the lawmakers radar screens and I wouldn't be at all surprised if motorcycles get charged the same fees as do cars. While there wouldn't be any logic behind cars and motorcycles paying the same amount of road fees per year or per mile, that won't stop legislators from not giving us a break if fees are adopted. In California, motorcycles pay the same as cars to cross the state's bridges and we pay the same as a van load of people to enter a state park, to mention two fees off the top of my head. It has always seemed to me that most legislators would be happy if motorcycles would just disappear from the highways, as we are nothing but a nuisance in the traffic mix, as far as they and most bureaucrats are concerned.
