re: Texas to hit all-electric vehicle owners with high fees

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Makes sense to me. EV owners don't pay gas tax so the state is just trying to recoup lost revenue.

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The average driver in Texas is not paying $200 a year in gas tax. That's way too high.

If you have zero cars drive on a given road, it will still deteriorate within a set time period due to weather and temperature. The relevant question regarding road damage isn’t whether driving on it damages it; it’s whether driving on it damages it at a rate that matters. Within the “standard” weight range, it really doesn’t matter a lot, because the road will break down within that period, anyway. But once you get outside of the standard range roads are designed for, damage increases dramatically due to the Fourth Power Rule. In short, anyone driving a vehicle roughly 6,000 pounds or less will more or less be a wash based on how we design and build roads. As you climb above that, damage adds up very, very quickly. But all consumer passenger vehicles do a rounding error’s worth of damage when compared to large trucks. But I’m sure that industry’s lobbyists love this silly distraction.

Fourth Power Rule

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Well a EV is about 33% heavier that a gas vehicle. That will factor into road repairs.

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First, that is factored in when I say the flat fee is not proportional to actual use. Even if the 33% were true it still doesn't support the TX flat fee amount unless someone drives farther than the average in a year.

The 33% heavier is also not true of a lot of EVs compared to their competitors in the ICE category.

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The vast majority of damage is most done by shipping trucks anyway.

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As far as vehicles go, yeah 1,000 trucks do more damage than probably 100,000 cars regardless of whether they weigh 3,500 or 5,000 lbs.

But all damage from traffic is probably far outweighed by the damage due to weather.

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You are surely aware that a Tesla weighs more than a Chevy Silverado 1500, right? (generically speaking)

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Only the single cab "work truck" type/trim is lighter than a Tesla, and it's still heavier than the Model 3 and Y. Every other Silverado package (the ones people buy) is heavier than every Tesla except the Model X (their larger suv/crossover).

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In most states the fee only replaces lost state tax, but not federal. Texas's fee is designed to make up for both state and federal gas taxes.

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Texas should keep the fed portion to repay the state for its border control efforts.

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Why should someone be penalized for not using fuel?

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Because roads don't build/repair/maintain themselves, baw.

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EV's tend to be considerably heavier than an ICE car. That's harder on the roads.

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Fresh take. I wish someone had proposed this earlier in the thread.

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The Tesla Model X weighs 5,200-5,400lbs. Electric batteries are pretty heavy. But I guess you need to compare them directly against ICE version, not EV to ICE of different models.

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Mid size ICE SUVs tend to run about 4,400-4,800 lbs, so the Tesla is about 20% heavier.

An EV can be lighter than a similar size ICE, it's just the range would obviously suck if you use a small battery. As battery tech continues to improve I would expect curb weights to be pretty similar with acceptable range in the not-too-far future.

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They have to capture some road use tax. It makes sense.

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A road use tax is called a toll. A tax for simply owning an EV is a stupid idea that was thought up by stupid people. Just tax electricity. Y’a know, the thing EV owners use to propel their vehicle across the road.