[JD4JC]

Colorado is very friendly to all types of electric vehicles with propulsion batteries, with a tax credit based on purchased new vehicle battery capacity and actual retail sales price. This commitment by Denver to start buying EVs as fleet replacements beginning in 2018 is another "green signal" in our state. Although we're not a CARB state, maybe this will be a good slot for 200 Volts, as I don't think that any Tesla Model 3s will be sold here before 2019, if then!

At the same time, pressure is mounting for a "tax per mile" levy to replace the gasoline tax in our state, which would reduce the one of the major economic advantage of EVs. My guess is that this will, at best, take many years to work out, if ever. I think that some pilot programs of this type have been started in the Pacific Northwest, but haven't heard any results from them. There are surely myriad technical and political hurdles to be crossed for such a plan to be implemented!

 

[DonC]

You can usually predict the support in a state for EVs. Just take the number of whites with a college degree and divide by the number of whites. That ratio will tell all.

I'd expect the new Nissan Leaf to be available by then. That would be one option. Given I can't see a city buying a Tesla or something like a BMW, even a good deal would come with terrible optics, other than maybe a Ford I suspect the Bolt EV would be the only other choice.

The tax per mile for electric vehicles is a fair approach. You have to have revenue to maintain the roads. Since that's normally done with a gas tax. you need something to replace the lost revenue which you won't be getting from EVs. The big question is how much would the tax be? Unfortunately taxing electricity used in EVs is complicated by the fact that you don't know how much electricity was used for other things and how much for the EV. That makes a per mile or per vehicle tax the alternative. Fortunately this should not be a big deal. Most of the cost savings is in the difference in the cost of gas sans tax, so to replace the lost gas revenue shouldn't result in a big tax bill. Just as an example, the gas tax in Colorado is $.23/gallon. So a car going 12K miles would pay $120/year, and $10/month seems pretty minimal.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

You can usually predict the support in a state for EVs. Just take the number of whites with a college degree and divide by the number of whites. That ratio will tell all.

I'd expect the new Nissan Leaf to be available by then. That would be one option. Given I can't see a city buying a Tesla or something like a BMW, even a good deal would come with terrible optics, other than maybe a Ford I suspect the Bolt EV would be the only other choice.

The tax per mile for electric vehicles is a fair approach. You have to have revenue to maintain the roads. Since that's normally done with a gas tax. you need something to replace the lost revenue which you won't be getting from EVs. The big question is how much would the tax be? Unfortunately taxing electricity used in EVs is complicated by the fact that you don't know how much electricity was used for other things and how much for the EV. That makes a per mile or per vehicle tax the alternative. Fortunately this should not be a big deal. Most of the cost savings is in the difference in the cost of gas sans tax, so to replace the lost gas revenue shouldn't result in a big tax bill. Just as an example, the gas tax in Colorado is $.23/gallon. So a car going 12K miles would pay $120/year, and $10/month seems pretty minimal.

Agreed that a tax on mileage is the smart approach. In NYS electric consumption is taxed by the local government. I don't like the idea of double taxation, however small it may be. A back of the envelope calculation reveals that I could be paying around $1.25 a month in sales tax on the electricity for the Volt (it's less because some mileage is CS mode driving). $15 a year won't break the bank, I know. But, a very small amount of DNA in me makes me remember a revolution egged on by tax stamps. Some equitable solution is called for.

EDIT: I now realize that the state tax on mileage would not result in double taxation as my state does not impose a sales tax on electricity. My county does. The county would not be receiving monies paid to the state, at least not directly. So, all is good for me. I don't know about the rest of the country....