General Motors earlier this week sent a letter to Washington Gov. Chris Gregorie asking that a proposed $100 EV surtax be removed from the state’s transportation bill (Senate Bill 6455, ESSB 6455) on the grounds that it will create a disincentive toward the purchase of an EV. The proposal currently excludes vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt, which can run part of the time on gasoline.
Proponents of the surtax argue the fee is needed to offset losses in state gas tax revenues since EV owners don’t need to buy gas. GM believes this proposal is misguided and will hurt sales and market adoption of EVs. The small number of pure EVs on the road at this point have a negligible impact on state revenues, GM argues.
In the special category of what are they thinking Washington State has proposed a $100 surtax on pure EVs, those that never run on gasoline. It is of course true that gasoline taxes help pay for roads and that pure EVs don't use gasoline but do use roads. It is also, however, true that burning gasoline is a significant contributor to global warming. The obvious question is what matters most paying for roads or leaving a habitable environment to the future. Common Sense suggest that the environment trumps roads. What are they thinking?
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