Terry Blanton wrote: >This will become a problem for Tesla and with BEVs in general. This >is also why the Gov't needs to sell a fuel . . . some kind of fuel. >Highways are maintained by the federal excise tax on fuel. If you're >not selling fuel, you have no $$ for highways and the corruption that >goes with it.
I do not think this would be a problem for the government. If cars run on electricity, they can easily tax electricity. If they run on cold fusion, the government can almost as easily tax mileage based on odometer readings, using some sort of digital odometer. The government can begin doing this after about a million people switch over to the new fuel, when the lost revenue becomes significant. I do not know whether highway taxes are more likely to invite corruption than other kinds, but I think we should have them. I seldom drive, and I know people in cities who never drive. It is unfair to ask us to pay for the highways we do not use. Of course it is okay to ask us to pay for part of them, but heavy drivers should pay much more, and trucks even more, since heavy vehicles wear out roads more quickly. I favor wider use of road tolls, using automatic detection devices rather than toll booths, so that noone has to slow down. Perhaps on-board GPS units would do the job. I think we should charge automobile drivers $1 per mile, and make public transport such as buses and trains free. Automobile drivers cause much more environmental harm than people riding on MARTA trains. - Jed
