SB 5251

     Under Washington State Senate Bill 5251, owners of electric cars would have to pay an extra $100 fee simply for the privilege of driving an electric vehicle.  Why would the government punish electric car owners for making what seems to be the more socially responsible vehicle choice? Well, because electric cars in all their glory, don't use gasoline, allowing their owners to skirt paying one of the highest state gas taxes in the country.  
     The state relies on the gas tax to fund road and highway construction and maintenance, to the tune of $2.4 billion in the 2009-2011 biennium.  You can find a nice article about the proposed bill here, in the Seattle Times.  According to the article a driver who drives 12,000 miles a year, pays an average of $204 a year in gas taxes.   So while $100 is an added fee (or tax depending on who you ask)  it is still less that what a majority of the drivers in the state pay.  
     The problem with the bill is not that it attempts to ensure that those who drive electric cars help to fund the maintenance on the roads they use, but that it minimizes just one incentive to purchase an electric vehicle.  To state the obvious, electric vehicles do not use gas, and thus do not contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere which along with many other sources greatly contribute to global warming.  Spending less on gas, including taxes, is one major incentive to go green and buy an electric car.  It is not good policy for the government to take away that incentive. 

    The federal government has made it a clear policy to promote the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles.  Since 2005 there has been a federal tax credit for hybrid vehicles that ranged from $450 to $3,400, depending on number of sales, and there is also a $7,500 credit for purchase of purely electric cars, such as the Chevy Volt, or Nissan Leaf. These incentives help promote the new technology until it is more able to survive in the open marketplace without the incentives.  Encouraging and supporting the development of electric vehicles is good government policy.  Much as the government subsidizes research for drugs, and supports military research that makes its way into consumer products so too should the government support the emerging electric vehicle industry.  
    The benefits of a fully developed electric car industry far outweigh the costs of the tax cuts.  Weening ourselves from foreign oil, much produced in countries with populations and regimes hostile to our best interests, is one benefit.  Slowing our output of greenhouse gas emissions, in order to slow or decrease global warming along with other environmental damage, is another.  Being an innovative leader in an emerging industry, worth potentially billions of dollars to US companies annually, just make sense economically.  

    States must not not work against these incentives by imposing a special electric vehicle tax simply to shore up the short-term needs of their department of transportation budgets.  Yes, electric vehicles do cause wear and tear to our roadways, however, gasoline powered cars cause wear and tear to our environment and yet the true costs of this environmental destruction is not paid by their drivers.  Eventually, as electric and hybrid vehicles become more popular and eclipse gasoline powered vehicles, an entirely new system of paying for our roads will be needed.  However, until then states should not impose these fees. 
      Rather, than punish those making the responsible choice, why not increase gas taxes in order to reflect the true costs (including environmental)  of driving gasoline powered vehicles?  This would mean increasing current gas taxes by perhaps a dollar or more.  Yes there would be some economic consequences, and it would disproportionally hurt the middle class, but it would also provide a huge incentive for consumers and car companies to produce and consume vehicles that cause much less damage to our environment.  And of course the revenue that such a tax would produce could be used for many greatly needed infrastructure investments such as those proposed in the State of the Union.  Oil companies have received too many subsidies for far too long, it is time we strongly commit to promoting a more sustainable transportation policy, and states must do their part to reinforce those policies at the state level.  This may be the only time I will ever agree with Tim Eyman.  

• as a disclaimer I do not own a hybrid or electric vehicle, and do not plan to anytime soon in the future.