I don't see the logic in this argument. Electric vehicles are not going to destroy the roads.
Further, electric vehicles weigh more than comparable gas or diesel vehicles, making the ratio of road wear to tax contribution even more disparate.
Even if you agree electric vehicles are good for society overall, we will need to find a new way to fund road maintenance.
[1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X16...
The simple answer is a mileage tax on registration of vehicles, thoufh California’s EV fee coming in 2020 is simpler if not as well scaled to impact.
My state does not have yearly inspections, so nobody is going to read my odometer.
As to the sister comment on how do we pay for the extra electricity infrastructure... through your electricity bill?
Now the hard part is getting accurate distance traveled figures from all road users. Good luck with that.
> As to the sister comment on how do we pay for the extra electricity infrastructure... through your electricity bill?
Yes, and the system is breaking down because of solar. Typically, most of what you pay for electricity goes towards maintaining the line to your house, not towards generation. When you get solar panels that cover most of your usage, but keep the connection for use when the sun does not shine, your bill goes down to the point where it's no longer enough to maintain your grid connection.
The correct solution to that is to disaggregate transmission and generation, and for transmission bill you for the size of your main incoming fuse instead of consumption. However, in much of the US the utilities are heavily constrained in how they bill you by law, and cannot do this, so the only thing they can do is hike up prices on everyone, so solar is even more appealing and more people get it, resulting in even higher prices...
The MOT test in the UK checks emissions, roadworthiness, basic functionality. No reason why it couldn't also report mileage.
Most modern cars provide an API so you can track mileage. Again, not hard to provide that as a taxable figure.
Unfortunately the UK does not have proper emissions checks as part of the MOT.
There is a (subjective) visual check for visible smoke, and a metered exhaust check which again only tests generically for "smoke", ie large particulates.
Unfortunately there is no testing of specific pollutants (NOx, PM2.5, PM10, etc) so many vehicles can pass MOT even if they are way outside allowed emissions levels, have had DPF removed, etc.
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/licensing-rego/road-user-c...
Just read of the mileage counter, end of story.
Only took me a few seconds to figure out how to abuse the distance traveled tax for combustion engines. Physically roll back the odometer if the vehicle is old enough, do it electronically, disconnect the odometer, and/or other ways. I think people that travel around the country a lot would abuse. FYI, messing with the odometer is a felony so don't do it.
My state does not have yearly inspections, so nobody is going to read my odometer.
When the day comes that the revenue from the fuel tax has dipped low enough that the money needs to be replaced, I am quite sure we can come up with 300 other ways to allocate the tax burden appropriately.
This is the point of the debate. Prior to electric vehicles, we have been more or less in a situation where we could concentrate tax burden of road maintenance on vehicle users/owners. Electric vehicle use is much harder to measure apart from coarse odometer readings taken during inspection.
There are some +ve and some -ve points about each technology and I'd rather have the govt build roads every year or research on building better roads if that is what it takes to get every vehicle to be electric.
I was specifically referencing semis, where an incredible amount of road damage comes from, and the need for new road funding to account for the transition from diesel taxes.
The logic is that road damage does not scale linearly with vehicle weight, and with current battery tech, an electric semi will need to complete more trips for the same amount of cargo due to the battery's weight eating into the load capacity.
I can't imagine it not being related at least to GVWR / num_tires.
Pardon my ignorance but I thought the S was a luxury sedan and not a pickup or large SUV? Does the weight of the S compare favorably with vehicles in its own class?
Model S Curb Weight: 4,647.3 lbs
Cadillac CTS: 3,652 to 4,016 lbs
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The Model S is anywhere from 1000lbs to 500lbs more than other vehicles in its class.
Diesel taxes are one way to help make the truck industry cover the costs of road improvements, which electric semis will never have to pay. This requires a new funding source given how much semis destroy the roads.
Model S Curb Weight: 4,647.3 lbs