[Gvr4-330]

Hello All!

I purchased a 2014 Volt back in April. At the time, I paid an excise tax, but I have been reading here that other DC owners have had this waived.

Are there any 2011-2015 Volt owners who registered their car in DC able to confirm if they had their excise tax exempted? I am going to reach out the DMV and see if I can get the excise tax refunded, but it would be helpful if I had some proof that it should not have been charged to begin with.

The irony is that they are using the 35 gasoline only city mpg (i.e. ignoring the batteries), but levying a higher excise tax rate because the weight of the batteries they aren't counting pushes the car into the next tax tier.

Thanks in advance!

 

[abstractart]

From what it says here:
https://dmv.dc.gov/book/vehicle-fees/vehicle-title
you shouldn't have to have had to pay the excise tax (sales tax). It seems to apply to both original and subsequent owners get the reduction. Only original owners get the lower registration fee for some reason.

For what it's worth, I just purchased a 2017 and did not pay any taxes at the dealer (or afterword).

Don, from NW DC

 

[Gvr4-330]

Thanks for the reply. I am familiar with that page . It states you are exempt from excise tax if the car gets over 40 mpg city. They use fueleconomy.gov as their source which shows that the 2011-2015 Volt gets 35 mpg city on gasoline only. This is the value they used.

I am trying to find evidence to convince them to take into account the electricity range as well. It would be helpful if other 2011-2015 owners could chine in with their experience.

Unfortunately for me (fortunate for you) the 2016-2017 Volt is rated at 43 mpg city, so your data point doesn't help my case.

 

[abstractart]

Interestingly, if you go to the EPA page:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/topten.jsp?year=2017&action=AllYears
and click on the "show similar.." under the Volt it will show the older models and give a combined MPG of 60. That might be a good weapon to use in your fight. I agree that it's ridiculous that the Volt and other plug-in hybrids are penalized by not using the MPGe rating instead.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=33900
This does give the MPGe rating which is 98 for a 2014.

Also this:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/EPAGreenGuide/pdf/all_alpha_14.pdf
If you scroll down to the volt it gives the MPG in two different ways, one for just gas and the other combined with electric (I assume).

Good Luck in the Fight!

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

Tell them the Volt is an electric car. That's what it is. It just happens to have a gas generator as a backup. Therefore, just like with any other EV, they should use the MPGe.

You could also show them the lifetime MPG of your Volt. It'll likely be 50 MPG+.

 

[Gvr4-330]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am still looking for evidence from other DC-area owners, as it would also be better to show precedent, rather than trying to establish precedent; especially as there are other Gen1 Volt owners in DC.