I sent this email to my house rep. Other EV owners are free to copy and paste this and change wording as needed. Let’s get this regressive BS changed.
I recently purchased an EV and was required to pay an ‘Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fee’ upon renewing my vehicle registration. In this pivotal moment where domestically-manufactured EVs and batteries represent a huge opportunity for Georgia in terms of jobs and economic impact, it is extremely counterproductive to impose an additional fee on EV owners. As Kia, Hyundai, and Rivian bring vital jobs and opportunity to the state through EV manufacturing, Georgia is sending the wrong message to EV owners that they are not welcome or appreciated for their personal financial investment in this budding technology. I understand that the purpose of this fee is to fund road repairs due to the weight of EVs and the fact that EV owners do not pay a tax on gasoline. However, we pay taxes on electricity when we charge at our homes as well as when we utilize public chargers. If the weight of EVs is the primary concern, perhaps all vehicles regardless of fuel type should pay an annual fee if they gross over a certain weight. It is doubly regressive to impose the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fee on EV owners when the Georgia gas tax has been repealed for the majority of 2023.
The weight of an EV is irrelevant next to a commercial vehicle when it comes to road wear. Cyclic loading fatigue is related to total weight exponentially. Cars are like 1.0 earthquakes, EV’s 1.5 earthquakes, 18 wheelers like 7.0 earthquakes. Below a threshold weathering is a much bigger factor in road wear than small esals.
If users were charged for wear proportionally though taxes commercial vehicles would pay 100% of the cost to maintain roads.
Interesting to look up the 4th power law. Established in the 1950’s, it shows the relationship of axle weight to road wear. And yeah, big 80,000 lb trucks would pretty much pay all the road taxes if they were based on wear.
God it sucks to see this parroted about so much