EV owners do not pay gas taxes. Therefore, many States charge them.

Electric vehicle owners in Vermont recently received a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles with some bad news. Starting Jan. 1, they will have to pay $178 a year to register their cars, twice as much as owners of cars with internal combustion engines.

By imposing higher rates, Vermont became the latest state to charge people a premium for electric driving. At least 39 states charge such an annual fee, including $50 in Hawaii and $200 in Texas, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. It went up without a government a few years ago.

Now, as President Trump rolls back the Biden administration’s measures to promote electric vehicles, Republicans in Congress are considering imposing a national fee to boost the money used to fund roads and bridges. , a currency that is very difficult.

The fee is an attempt to make up for the drop in gasoline tax revenue that electric cars don’t pay for, for obvious reasons. They are an example of the government’s difficulty in adapting to the technological upheaval in the auto industry.

Environmentalists and consumer groups agree that electric car owners should help pay for road maintenance and repair. But they worry that Republicans, who control Congress, will set tariffs so high to punish electric car owners, who tend to be liberal.

This has already happened in Texas and other states, said Chris Harto, a senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports who focuses on transportation and energy.

“EV owners should participate in paying for the roads they use,” he said. But, he added, “in some cases, states impose fees that penalize EV drivers far more than what gas car owners pay.”

The fares are also unfair to poor drivers or people who drive less, making it even more difficult to buy a car that pollutes less, said Mr. Harto and others. Federal and state gasoline and diesel taxes are levied per gallon, so people who drive more — or own gas guzzlers — automatically pay more.

The main reason fuel tax revenue has fallen is that internal combustion engines are more efficient, while politicians are reluctant to raise fuel taxes to keep up with inflation.

The federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon has not increased since 1993. The Highway Trust Fund, which finances transportation projects with proceeds from that tax, could be become bankrupt in 2027 without new sources of income, say analysts. The list of tax and spending policies being considered by Republicans in Congress includes imposing a fee on electric vehicles to help replenish the Highway Trust Fund.

There are 5.4 million electric vehicles on American roads, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group. But this is about 2 percent of the total and not the main reason for the lack of income.

“Legislators find a convenient scapegoat, and punish the cleanest cars on the road while ignoring the real causes of the shortage,” said Max Baumhefner, director of electric vehicle infrastructure at the Environmental Protection Council. natural resources.

Some of the highest electric vehicle fees are in states that tend to vote Republican, such as Texas, Wyoming and Ohio, where they cost $200 a year on top of the regular registration fee.

Robert Nichols, a Republican senator from Texas who sponsored legislation in 2023 to impose a fee, said the amount was determined by analyzing how much the average owner of a gasoline car would make.

“This is not something against EVs. We have Tesla here in Texas and we’re very proud,” he said, referring to the electric car maker, which has its headquarters and a plant in Austin. “But everybody needs to pay.”

Texas is among the states singled out by Consumer Reports for overcharging electric vehicle drivers. The association cites the lowest gas tax in Texas at 20 cents a gallon, far below the national average of about 50 cents.

Mr. Nichols admitted that lawmakers are reluctant to raise the tax on gasoline drivers. “No one wants that on their grave: ‘We raised the gas tax,'” he said.

But increasingly, electricity tariffs aren’t just a red-government phenomenon. New Jersey, where gasoline taxes are twice as high as Texas, began charging electric vehicle owners a $250 tax last year. Washington, which costs $150, is as progressive as any other blue state.

In Vermont, lawmakers passed a toll bill last year because they were concerned that the growth of electric vehicles could put the state’s finances at risk, said Patrick Murphy, policy director of Vermont. State of Vermont Agency of Transportation.

“Legislators know we’re getting close to the point where EV adoption becomes mainstream in Vermont,” he said.

Electric vehicles accounted for 12 percent of new vehicle sales in Vermont last year, higher than the national average of 8 percent. Mr. Murphy noted that fees collected from electric vehicle owners are earmarked for infrastructure such as chargers. At $89 a year more than the regular enrollment fee, Vermont’s tuition is on the low end of state tuition.

People on both sides of the debate agree that a fair system would pay electric car owners per mile. But it’s hard to do. Some states are experimenting with technology that tracks mileage and pays owners. But the system is expensive and raises privacy concerns.

Taxes are “not perfect,” said Mr. Nichols, a Texas lawmaker. “But it’s taking a big step. It’s right if we don’t set up a huge office.”

Some states, including Iowa, Georgia and Kentucky, tax electric vehicles. But this system doesn’t see a lot of cars. Most people charge at home, sometimes using public chargers.

States that do not charge high tolls include Alaska, Arizona, New York and Massachusetts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

By 2026, Vermont plans to become the first state to try charging electric vehicle owners based on how much they drive.

It will be easier in Vermont, Mr. Murphy said, because officials already collect the odometer when they bring their vehicles in for their annual safety inspections. This is not the case in many states.

Even the mileage tracking system is flawed. It taxes its owners on travel to other states, and does not collect money from foreign visitors.

“All we have to do is keep things as simple as possible in the beginning, to get things to a point where every car pays something for our infrastructure,” Mr Murphy said, “and then evolve over time to consistently make it a fair system.”