Electric Car Tax

What’s the reward for driving a nonpolluting electric or plug in hybrid vehicle? More taxes of course. In a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation drivers of these vehicles in Oregon may be facing a 1.43 cents tax per mile if the Oregon Department of Transportation has their way. Proponents of the proposed bill rationalize it stating that “everyone not driving these vehicles are paying a tax, why shouldn’t they?” This “life isn’t fair, get over it” take isn’t really the best message for legislators to send when they’ve been pushing car owners to make the switch to nonpolluting vehicles. Another problem with this proposal is how the state will go about implementing a way for electric vehicle owners to report the distance they’ve travelled in and out of the state of Oregon. Tracking devices on these vehicles opens up a mess of privacy issues. Other states, such as Washington, are considering charging electric vehicle owners a flat rate fee per year, per vehicle. This approach maybe wouldn’t get state coffers the biggest bang for the buck, but it would certainly be much more palatable to consumers than mileage reporting or vehicle tracking devices.