Wisconsin EV tax rears its head again

[rmay635703]

(Sorry Ben it's too juicy)

In addition to the extra $25 wheel tax my county charges cars now there's...

Wisconsin state government is proposing an annual $125 tax on electric vehicles.
(There are still under 5000 true EVs in Wisconsin last I checked.)

The Governor refuses to raise gas taxes, He is fine with raising "Fees".
Just like venerable taxin Tommy Thomson

In short, the Governor wants to tax Electric Vehicles, because he doesn't have to call it a tax, and then borrow from our future to pay for roads.

Personally, I am not opposed to some sort of small appropriate fee for electric vehicles. A 30 MPG vehicle in Wisconsin, driving 10,000 miles per year would pay about $103 per year in WI gas tax. A Prius would pay about $62.

This tax is SPECIFIC to electric vehicles, and ignores mileage, use, and all other factors.
Electric vehicles are a tiny percent of total cars on the road. Adding a specialty tax to them is a drop in the ocean compared to the budgeting needed to maintain our roads.

This bill (unlike its predecessors) would specifically exempt Plug-In Hybrids (Chevy Volt, Ford Fusion Energi, etc.) Plug in-hybrids can run on either Electricity OR gasoline, and can be run EXCLUSIVELY on electricity if the driver chooses to do so.

The legislation can be seen at:
2017 Assembly Bill 478

Sorry again for posting but I like to have a united front against regressive taxation, especially when it's motivated to punish a certain group to make someone feel good more than actually raise funding.

[oil pan 4]

If 5,000 cars that are driven 12,000 miles a year, each one is not burning 400 gallons of gas. That adds up to 2 million gallons of gas not being burned.
Then take 2 million and multiply it by what the state tax on gas is.
I know most of these electric vehicles are probably being driven no where near 12,000 miles per year but that is what the average person drives and the government is incompetent so that is what they are going to assume people with electric vehicles are driving too.

If you have an electric pickup put a generator in the bed, now it's a hybrid.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Basically one more reason for me to become quite skeptical about the viability of an EV.

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

If you have an electric pickup put a generator in the bed, now it's a hybrid.

Makes me wonder how it would affect the so-called "extended-range electric vehicles".

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

This bill (unlike its predecessors) would specifically exempt Plug-In Hybrids (Chevy Volt, Ford Fusion Energi, etc.) Plug in-hybrids can run on either Electricity OR gasoline, and can be run EXCLUSIVELY on electricity if the driver chooses to do so.

lol, if I was an EV owner there, I'd get a PHEV and run only on electricity just to give them the finger. Going by the text in the bill, it sounds like the i3 Rex would be exempt, even though it's considered an EV with range extender instead of a PHEV like pretty much everything else.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

If 5,000 cars that are driven 12,000 miles a year, each one is not burning 400 gallons of gas. That adds up to 2 million gallons of gas not being burned.
Then take 2 million and multiply it by what the state tax on gas is.
I know most of these electric vehicles are probably being driven no where near 12,000 miles per year but that is what the average person drives and the government is incompetent so that is what they are going to assume people with electric vehicles are driving too.

If you have an electric pickup put a generator in the bed, now it's a hybrid.

I think you make my point fairly well whether you meant to or not
The tax affect is only $618,000 dollars in your case which is enough to pave a tenth of one mile of 4 lane highway, big win there billy.

Electric Car Road Use Taxes are Regressive

You also enforce my point that from a cost standpoint
that you should drive a Prius to avoid the tax and that the pollution reduction of 2,000,000 gallons of gas avoided, in a good of society view, in of itself is justification to tax excerpt EVs instead of fairly tax the cars.
As you allude to,I would argue however Wisconsin BEVs lag the nation in miles traveled, statistically under 5000 miles a year due to non existent intralata charging infrastructure heck only place to charge here is 110vac at Kwik Trip

Oil pan, do you figure the car and motorcycle only wheel tax at the county level I pay on top of state registration increases is fair ? (Only means what you think, no farm, no industrial, no "trucks", nothing heavy pays the tax)

Anyway
This math was done for you already in the initial post and as huge as it sounds if these were the 30mpg unicorns you state, 5000 cars is insignificant and does nothing to fund roads, adding insult to injury the tax goes to the general fund which past elections have shown can be used for anything including the effort to initially elect a certain governor we have, he of coarse didn't know anything about it.

So All the tax does do is dissuade people from picking up a $5000 leaf or $2500 :0 Miev as a 2nd car heck it dissuaded a poster in this thread already.

I say all this and am likely except from all state (but not county) increases because my one EV is antique.

Yet I still have a strong opinion on something that doesn't affect me because I want Wisconsin to quit being dead last on many fronts, I think the many punitive policies Wisconsin already has is bad enough but this is the last nail in the coffin.

Ah well

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

I think you make my point fairly well whether you meant to or not
The tax affect is only $618,000 dollars in your case which is enough to pave a tenth of one mile of 4 lane highway, big win there billy.

It's not about being effective, it's about scoring points in a useless culture war. Which doesn't advance any real goal except getting clicks, personal power and maybe an eventual TV slot or book deal. It'll get him more votes from his base, and that's all he cares about.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

It's not about being effective, it's about scoring points in a useless culture war.

I'm not sure to which extent this so-called "culture war" is useless at all, but it is indeed absolutely pointless.

[oil pan 4]

It really doesn't make sense for the state government to sabotage public EV adoption.
The problem in a blue state is they have never heard of a tax they didn't like.
Electric vehicles had a free pass for along time but it must be expiring.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

It really doesn't make sense for the state government to sabotage public EV adoption.
The problem in a blue state is they have never heard of a tax they didn't like.
Electric vehicles had a free pass for along time but it must be expiring.

We've been red most of the last 4 decades on STATE LEVEL and LOCAL POLITICS.

We occasionally appear blue for the pres but that's where it ends

Under republican leadership car registration went from $12 to $100 for me
Property taxes went from $575 to $3200 a year (only years they stayed constant was during Doyle go figure)
Hunting and fishing fees went up 10 to 30 fold.
The government board controlling utility fees and taxes allowed a 330% increase in a 5 year timeframe.
The state has sold more municipal bonds in the last 5 years than in its entire history (but that's not debt)

At least gas taxes didn't go up?

I fail to see where conservative values led to fewer taxes.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

We've been red most of the last 4 decades on STATE LEVEL and LOCAL POLITICS.

We occasionally appear blue for the pres but that's where it ends

Under republican leadership car registration went from $12 to $100 for me
Property taxes went from $575 to $3200 a year (only years they stayed constant was during Doyle go figure)
Hunting and fishing fees went up 10 to 30 fold.
The government board controlling utility fees and taxes allowed a 330% increase in a 5 year timeframe.
The state has sold more municipal bonds in the last 5 years than in its entire history (but that's not debt)

At least gas taxes didn't go up?

I fail to see where conservative values led to fewer taxes.

Looks to me like they are trying to copy the Democrats in my state...

Except we ALSO increased gas taxes too. We briefly had the highest in the country last year until Pennsylvania retook that dubious honor.

Our EV tax is $150/year on top of all the other fees. PHEV are specifically included in this if they can travel more than 30 miles on just electricity. This for a state that theoretically promotes "going green".