Impose Annual Fee on EVs to Fund Highway Projects

Measure is one of several proposed options to meet funding gap in Highway Trust Fund

By James Leggate

For years now, spending from the national Highway Trust Fund has outpaced the amount of taxes on the fossil fuels and heavy vehicles that feed it. Lawmakers in Washington took a step this week to add a new source of revenue to the HTF in the form of fees on electric and hybrid vehicles, but experts say there are still more ways officials could ensure the fund’s future solvency.

The HTF is used to fund highway projects and, to a lesser degree, mass transit. Congress hasn’t raised the gas tax that is the fund’s primary source of revenue since 1993, and the tax is not tied to inflation. Since 2007, HTF has received $724.5 billion from user taxes, but its outlays have totaled $932.2 billion, according to Jeff Davis, senior fellow at the Eno Center for Transportation. While testifying before the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure’s subcommittee on highways.

EV bring a new problem who’s going to build, repair the roads?