Michigan: Increased EV Registration Fees

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erichz

Active member
Joined
Sep 27, 2013
Messages
28
Location
Detroit, Michigan
Just thought people should know that Michigan is the latest state to sign into law increased registration fees on electric vehicles.

Anyone registering an EV in the state of Michigan from 2017 on will now face an surcharge registration fee of $100. With this adding to the 20% registration fee hike that was approved by the legislature, it would make my current LEAF over $300 a year to register.

The idea behind it was to make things more equitable when funding road repairs, since much of the funding here comes from gas taxes. At 26 cents per gallon for fuel taxes, that means an EV driver driving about 10,000 miles a year is being taxed at the same rate as a driver who gets an average of 26mpg.

The fees of registering a Hybrid also went up $30. I can't tell if the Volt will be considered a Hybrid or an EV, but from the language it looks like it is considered a Hybrid since it also accepts gasoline.
 
erichz said:
Just thought people should know that Michigan is the latest state to sign into law increased registration fees on electric vehicles.
The idea behind it was to make things more equitable when funding road repairs, since much of the funding here comes from gas taxes. At 26 cents per gallon for fuel taxes, that means an EV driver driving about 10,000 miles a year is being taxed at the same rate as a driver who gets an average of 26mpg.
CCR just posted a nice bit on this theory of fuel taxes. Just as is the case in so many other ways, the taxes collected don't pay for much. Collecting additional fees on lightweight low/no emission vehicles while no subsequent penalty is imposed on heavier, more destructive vehicles is a testament to the truth behind these misplaced attacks against what is perceived to be "lefty" pet causes.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1100816_electric-car-drivers-dont-pay-their-share-actually-no-one-does?fbfanpage
 
caffeinekid said:
CCR just posted a nice bit on this theory of fuel taxes. Just as is the case in so many other ways, the taxes collected don't pay for much.
Just so its clear, that is what the article in Green Car Reports talks about.

And that part is entirely predictable when gas taxes have remained flat while average vehicle MPG has been steadily increasing. So the costs for roads has to be covered by general tax revenue.

caffeinekid said:
Collecting additional fees on lightweight low/no emission vehicles while no subsequent penalty is imposed on heavier, more destructive vehicles is a testament to the truth behind these misplaced attacks against what is perceived to be "lefty" pet causes.
And this is your view of the Michigan fee on EVs which is unrelated to the article's content.
.
..Takes a moment to actually read about the law change in Michigan...

Seems that the EV/Hybrid fee is part of a large set of changes which in fact do raise gas taxes in the state and raises them even higher for diesel fuel used by large heavy trucks. Increases registration fees on all vehicles, but even more on commercial vehicles and trucks. Some of those tax increases are offset by increases in homestead credits so that individuals won't be hit as hard by the tax increases and that offset will place even more of the increase tax burden on commercial operators and others that just drive through the state without living there (i.e., truckers).

But don't let those facts get in the way of you thinking this is just some right-wing attack on what is perceived to be a "lefty" pet cause.

My take is this seems like a sensible set of steps to generate the revenue needed for infrastructure. Is it a perfect plan? Well, its a government plan so that question is rhetorical.
 
@ jpadc - excellent post. When Georgia signed similar legislation into law earlier this year, I argued the same point regarding need to pay for infrastructure. I live in Georgia, and I drive a Leaf. So I now pay the $200 EV fee, and I have no problem paying my fair share to support public infrastructure. And none of these discussions regarding state gas taxes (Georgia, Michigan, etc) take into account the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon that EVs still do not pay. Therefore driving an EV is still lower cost than ICE from an infrastructure tax perspective.
 
jpadc said:
My take is this seems like a sensible set of steps to generate the revenue needed for infrastructure. Is it a perfect plan? Well, its a government plan so that question is rhetorical.
But I would add that I think the Michigan/Georgia approaches are WAY better than plans like OReGo (http://www.myorego.org/) where the government wants to install tracing devices in all of our cars. Now that really does strike me as a "lefty" pet cause.
 
Sorry but you are not alone. I support raising EV registration fees and I live in a state that just raised theirs from $100 to $150 so you actually are "luckier" than me. But gas prices are also going up (we were 5th highest but by next June we will be 2nd) But not all is gloom. The extra $50 on the EV registration fee will be set aside to fund public charging infrastructure improvements.

FYI; with my custom Seahawk plates, my registration fee will be easily over $300 despite no usage fees and a "value" fee set at $35...(or could be $40. not sure what it is other than its one of the smallest entries on the tab fees :) )
 
But... Something needs to be factored in about how less pollution is being produced by electrics, and what the cost is to society not to change over to purely electric vehicles. From smog to poor health and all of the associated costs that come with trying to cope and ultimately pay the price for all that dirty air. In large cities, they are having a devil of a time trying to fight air pollution, and it is costly...
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
SThe extra $50 on the EV registration fee will be set aside to fund public charging infrastructure improvements.

Wow, that's awesome and almost seems too exclusive to make sense. The $100 is "pay your fair share" but the $50 is "now let us do something for you".

This is a perfect balance I think. In NC we have a $100 electric fee, but it is very much to recoup perceived losses from no gas tax collected. The state Senate passed a bill that would have charged $50 to hybrids (seems logical right? 100% electric = $100, 50% electric = $50). Luckily that was shot down. That seems a little arbitrary to me.

At some point, governments are going to have to look beyond petrol as a means of funding infrastructure. Time to get creative.
 
Jefe said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
SThe extra $50 on the EV registration fee will be set aside to fund public charging infrastructure improvements.

Wow, that's awesome and almost seems too exclusive to make sense. The $100 is "pay your fair share" but the $50 is "now let us do something for you".

This is a perfect balance I think. In NC we have a $100 electric fee, but it is very much to recoup perceived losses from no gas tax collected. The state Senate passed a bill that would have charged $50 to hybrids (seems logical right? 100% electric = $100, 50% electric = $50). Luckily that was shot down. That seems a little arbitrary to me.

At some point, governments are going to have to look beyond petrol as a means of funding infrastructure. Time to get creative.
We've had a similar arrangement for several years in Colorado. Plug-in cars have to pay an extra $50 annual registration fee. $30 of that goes to roads and $20 goes to a state fund for charging stations. The three public charging stations in my remote rural area, of which I use two regularly, were 80% funded by the state fund. Cars subject to the EV registration fee display this windshield sticker:
12659993673_f0dd3c5e67_n.jpg
 
dgpcolorado said:
We've had a similar arrangement for several years in Colorado. Plug-in cars have to pay an extra $50 annual registration fee. $30 of that goes to roads and $20 goes to a state fund for charging stations. The three public charging stations in my remote rural area, of which I use two regularly, were 80% funded by the state fund. Cars subject to the EV registration fee display this windshield sticker:
12659993673_f0dd3c5e67_n.jpg

Are you happy with the condition and availability of public charging stations?
 
The answer to this should be separated into two. The first answer would be for "publicly available" stations and the other would be "publicly funded" stations. The difference is important.

Places like Whole Foods install stations that are available to the public, but they didn't get any money from the fund to pay for it. Yes, I am satisfied with the condition and availability of these stations.

I don't have any idea about the publicly funded ones. I don't even know how to find out where they are! You would think that the state would have a place where you could go to find out where they are, but I haven't found anywhere to do that.
 
Jefe said:
Are you happy with the condition and availability of public charging stations?
Yes, they are always available when I need them. My understanding is that the municipalities paid 20% of the cost with the state fund picking up the rest. The state requires them to be free for three years and to be handicap accessible; each has two cords. It would be way more trouble and expense to set up a payment system than it is worth so I expect them to remain free. Since EVs are still fairly uncommon in the mountains, seeing another car using them while I am there is unusual (but I can tell that others use them because they don't leave the cables neatly coiled as I always do). One station, in Mountain Village (base of Telluride ski area), is something of a gamble for me since there is no "plan B" if I find it blocked or out of service, unless I carry a generator, so I've only been there once. The others, in Ouray and Montrose, I use every week. The cities that installed them have told me that they hope to draw visitor traffic to local businesses and view them as an amenity for visitors. The one in Ouray is located at the very popular Hot Springs Pool and is powered by the local microhydro plant. I use that one so that it can be seen as being used; I have a weekly volunteer job in Ouray.

My reading of the state law suggests that the charging station grants are also available to private entities, such as apartment complexes. The three public charging stations in my area are part of a designated "EV highway" that is intended to facilitate EV travel. As longer range EVs make our current short range LEAFs obsolete I expect that Level 2 public charging will become unnecessary; it is more of a transition to a future when EVs are ubiquitous IMO.
 
dgpcolorado said:
Jefe said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
SThe extra $50 on the EV registration fee will be set aside to fund public charging infrastructure improvements.

Wow, that's awesome and almost seems too exclusive to make sense. The $100 is "pay your fair share" but the $50 is "now let us do something for you".

This is a perfect balance I think. In NC we have a $100 electric fee, but it is very much to recoup perceived losses from no gas tax collected. The state Senate passed a bill that would have charged $50 to hybrids (seems logical right? 100% electric = $100, 50% electric = $50). Luckily that was shot down. That seems a little arbitrary to me.

At some point, governments are going to have to look beyond petrol as a means of funding infrastructure. Time to get creative.
We've had a similar arrangement for several years in Colorado. Plug-in cars have to pay an extra $50 annual registration fee. $30 of that goes to roads and $20 goes to a state fund for charging stations. The three public charging stations in my remote rural area, of which I use two regularly, were 80% funded by the state fund. Cars subject to the EV registration fee display this windshield sticker:
12659993673_f0dd3c5e67_n.jpg

its awesome that you have seen results of this in action! We are still a long way from that. It pains me that the addtional fees don't even start until next Summer...
 
just paid for tabs $208.45 but before we get too choked up this total includes $30 for Seahawk plates (which are not going anywhere btw...) and $30 for a state parks parking pass (the last time I thought it would be a good idea to save the $30, it cost me over $50 for the year!)

the $150 fees do not start until july 2016. I really wished they had started right away or at least Jan 2016... :cool:
 
Dave, I am going to respectfully disagree that raising fees is a good thing for EVs. I might be all well and good to charge $100 for wear and tear on the highways, however as someone who never really used the charging infrastructure in WA, why should I have to pay an extra $50 a year for making the charging infrastructure better? Its the same argument when it comes to paying taxes to support the ferry system. I don't use the ferries either so why should I help finance something that I do not use. All of these things should be point of sale. Pay for the service when you need it.
This discussion is moot for me because the Leaf and I are in Hawaii. There are not many charging terminals here but the ones that are here are free with one exception of one fast charger.
Aloha, Kelly
 
I just (literally less than an hour ago) paid 497 total for a 14 SV after moving to NC, including a $100 surcharge. Here trust me it very much IS a backlash against perceived "leftiness" as NC has done quite a bit in the same vein recently. However when they were more balanced as a government, they did install public funded EV charging stations in my locality so I'll get my $100 or darn close to it that way. You'd think lowering the use of foreign oil from regimes that sponsor terrorists (yes I'm looking at you KSA) would be benefit enough, but them's the breaks. Roads have to be paid for somehow.
 
Here in the close neighboring state of IL we still have reduced EV plate fees, if you have a 100% electric car ($18/year) but they cut the EV purchase rebates when they went unfunded with the budget stall. I think IL may still make the top 10 states for EV registered cars but its nowhere near what you might see out west. Raising the plate fees wouldn't generate much revenue for roads here plus as the current IL Senate President (John Cullerton) drives a Tesla S with IL EV plate '1 EL' I would doubt any measure would get much traction ... of course we still don't yet have a budget but that's another story ...
 
jpadc said:
...
But I would add that I think the Michigan/Georgia approaches are WAY better than plans like OReGo (http://www.myorego.org/) where the government wants to install tracing devices in all of our cars. ...
They are tracking miles of road use.
That seems fairer than a flat rate.
I drive 7000 miles a year, so I would be over taxed.
And the people that drive 20,000 are under taxed.

It is good to see they are working to increase truck taxes.
But even with that trucks do not pay even a third of their maintenance cost impacts to the roads.
Politicians decided to subsidize them long ago.
If they were paying their fair share on road maintenance they would be paying 90% of the expenditures.
They don't.
 
TimLee said:
...It is good to see they are working to increase truck taxes.
But even with that trucks do not pay even a third of their maintenance cost impacts to the roads.
Politicians decided to subsidize them long ago.
If they were paying their fair share on road maintenance they would be paying 90% of the expenditures.
They don't.
While I agree that trucks are undertaxed compared to road damage — by a lot — I think it is worth pointing out that all of us use products transported by trucks. The people being subsidized by the relatively low fees paid by trucks are all of us who buy products transported by trucks. While you could make a good economic argument that it would be more efficient if trucks paid a fair share of their road damage externality and that cost was passed on to customers, we still end up paying for it one way or another.
 
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