This week I wrote about the "worst EV policy in the world," which seems to have breathed its last in #Australia.
"The High Court has struck down a Victoria law that imposed a road-user charge on EVs. The tax was A$2.6 cents to $2.8 cents per kilometer per year and intended to make up for the gas taxes not paid by EV drivers. Drivers were required to submit annual photos of their odometers to the tax authority.”
@andrew@law
I can understand why they tried that tax, especially since the heavy batteries in EVs make them weigh more than comparably-sized ICE vehicles, leading to greater road wear (and more microplastics from tire wear). But making people send photos of their odometers every year is crazy cumbersome! They could certainly add a road tax on public chargers, but home chargers might be tricky, though not impossible.
If it can't be done simply by income tax (rather than usage) then a mileage tax is the next best thing no?
In the US, we also have a fuel tax...which approximates miles driven and modified by vehicle weight (with the basic physics being bigger vehicles get lower mileage, use more gas and pay more tax).
In VA they've made EVs and hybrids pay a flat fee. But you can opt for mileage driven by enrolling in some 3rd party OBD port tracking system and they'll bill you for miles driven up to the flat fee amount. And if you don't want active tracking you can submit photos of odometer readings. Said 3rd party is apparently a privacy nightmare so I haven't enrolled as yet.
Odometer tracking is to me just the no brainer for calculating actual usage tax (with rate modified by vehicle type/registration)
I think a road usage tax is widely accepted as the best policy for internalizing externalities associated with wear and tear on roads, but it is poor at doing the same for things like congestion or the associated carbon load from the electricity used.
For the latter you'd want info about the source of the electricity used to charge the battery (or at least peak vs. off-peak) etc.
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