The Olympian is reporting that the Senate passed a bill to charge electric-car owners a $100 annual fee to compensate for the lack of gas taxes they pay.
Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, the Camano Island Democrat who sponsored the bill, said that while electric cars are good for the environment, they put the same wear and tear on the state’s roads that gas vehicles do.
The same bill passed in the Senate last year but failed in the House.
Washington’s gas tax stands at 37.5 cents per gallon and is the state’s largest source of transportation money.
The bill does not apply to hybrid vehicles or to those that don’t exceed 35 mph.
I would imagine electric cars weigh much less, thus put less wear and tear on roads. Perhaps a better solution would be to charge by car weight. Here's an interesting perspective on this: http://blogs.standard.net/blogging-the-rambler/2011/04/29/do-electric-cars-pay-their-fair-road-share/
Not a bad idea. Then drivers would basically pay for the amount of damage they do. There's also been lots of talk lately about taxing per mile so those who drive a lot pay more than those who drive a little. That would be difficult though because the ways to track it would be either at gas stations (and then you miss the electric vehicle owners again) or with technology placed in cars (but that would take years and a lot of money to get every car equipped). So maybe charging by weight isn't a bad idea. Hmmmm…