On 15 May 2021 at 17:29, Steves via EV wrote: > So if I make less pollution , ITMm charged extra?! Go figure.
I think there are a couple of factors at work here. 1. The laws implementing EV and gas-only pseudo hybrid license surcharges are based on model legislation written by ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). That's their thing - writing laws THEY like for states to adopt, usually almost unchanged. ALEC is strongly funded and supported by Charles Koch, whose billions in wealth is largely from - surprise - petroleum. So what's the real primary purpose of these laws? Is it to make EV drivers "pay their fair share" of road maintenance costs? Or is it to discourage EV uptake and protect greasy oil profits? 2. At the US state level, outside of a few states with California leading the way, there's not a lot of official interest in managing carbon (or any other) emissions. They do, however, care about collecting for short term road maintenance. Your contributions to air quality from driving an EV save them money in the long run, but they don't ascribe any value to that. These damaging state laws could be promptly slapped down by a well crafted federal law. Do you see one on the horizon? I sure don't. We have a unique situation here in the US. I may have missed a few, but I don't know of any other major industrialized nation with such a benighted EV policy. Other countries give EV buyers breaks on purchase taxes, and often pay them direct subsidies, not just tax credits. France, for example, has a straight- up 7,000 euro ($8,400) subsidy for reasonably-priced EVs. They pay even more if you turn in a Diesel vehicle on your new EV, providing that the Diesel is taken off the road and scrapped. Other countries give EV owners breaks on yearly registration taxes, often reducing them to zero or close to it. Other countries waive city-center congestion charges and limitations for EVs. Other countries' government offices even offer free EV charging in some places. This is because every other major industrialized country actually WANTS to put butts into EV seats, and they create obvious financial incentives to make it happen. What does the difference tell you about the US? David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That's how prayer works. -- Pope Francis = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
