Gas Taxes Down, EV Fees Up.

• Author: Hartman, Kristy
• Position: TRENDS - Electric vehicles

Inflation, fuel-efficient vehicles, changing driving habits are all cited as reasons for states' declining gas tax revenues. Now lawmakers can add another factor to the list: rising sales of electric vehicles. Although they currently represent only about 1 percent of all light-duty cars sold in the U.S., sales continue to climb. Nearly 200,000 plug-in electric vehicles were sold last year.

To make up for lost gas tax revenue, which typically pays for the upkeep of roadways and other infrastructure, legislatures are increasingly levying fees on this growing segment of the market.

Nine states enacted new fees last year--although the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down that state's measure as unconstitutional--and one state has done so this year (as of May 1), bringing the total number of states with fees to 19.

Many fee increases were included in larger transportation funding packages, alongside hikes in gas taxes, vehicle registration fees or other transportation-related revenues.

Oregon and South Carolina have taken slightly different approaches. Oregon's fee doesn't take effect until 2020, but the state was the first to adopt a road usage pilot program. Called OReGo, it charges vehicles a small fee for every mile driven instead of assessing a flat rate. It's open to traditional and electric vehicles, with a reduced fee available for electric cars.

South Carolina requires drivers to make biennial (rather...