Went to renew tags on my "Low Speed Vehicle".  DMV wants to charge me $400 electric car tax to offset gas tax that I don't pay.  Checked with another guy who has a Tesla and yep, same thing.  DMV shaking him down for $400 gas offset fee for driving electric.  Anyone else getting the shaft on this?

I’m not surprised. Just wait till the power company adds on a fee if you have the charger kit at home.

Attached File

Not $400.

https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/#highwayuse_fee.asp

I wish I was wrong.  These EV's can renew for 3 years in Virginia.... $109 X 3 Years + Registration Fees = $400+

Now, that makes more sense. I do not see any benefit of paying for 3 years upfront since you get $1-$2 discount only.

With current technology and taxes, owning an electric cars seems to be like cutting off your nose to spite your face.  What is the point?  EV's are expensive to purchase up front.  You are going to pay extra to have the charger put into your house.  You will pay extra for the electricity to charge the vehicle.  You will pay extra "road usage fees" to DMV.   All this on top of the limited range and limited charging stations equals a novelty vehicle at best (to me).  I guess if you live and drive only in very localized, urban areas it might be a benefit but how long does it take to offset the costs compared to a very fuel efficient, gasoline powered vehicle?

Think of it more like a road maintenance tax.

If your not in a county that has emissions, you can get a 3 year tag.  Your limited to 2 years if you have an emissions requirement.  If I'm paying taxes, registration, misc fees, I option to get the max tag amount so I don' have to remember every year.

So this was my problem with this. They put it out as a milage tax to be voted on on 2020. It was an "agreed upon mileage based on the amount of miles driven a year by an average Virginian." Of course for your portion of the gas tax you dont pay. It was passed during COVID lockdowns and sold as only about $100 a year. I personally find this as a problem because I drive a company car to and from work and wanted to pickup a used Model 3 or older Model X to drive a couple of times a week to go to the store or out somewhere. Maybe an occasional short trip to North Carolina or South Carolina where most of my milage would be out of state. I get no say and have to pay $400 extra a year. I do not spend $400 a year in gas in that car. The point was to get something that does not need oil changes or gas to get stale. I could charge at home using my solar array...

Oh BTW if your car gets better than 25/MPG they are probably going to slam you with it too.

I think this is actually being underestimated.

I had to go to the DMV Friday and when I was there getting tags and registering my wifes new car, I was talking to the clerk about it. She told me that last week she had done a registration on a Tesla and the guy paid 1200 for his registration (I guess it could have been for 3 years).

She mentioned her own car's registration had gone up 30 bucks each year. I get about 28.6-29 on highway and I'm sure that somehow or another I'll get lumped in so I can be double taxed.

This is one of the most ridiculous, underhanded moves by our state yet. I mean the government pushes EV's on people, they finally buy in and then they get taxed more because their NOT using gas? I mean what the fuck is the point?

I don't even remember hearing a peep about this shit before it was passed. The only thing I do remember is being lied to about them doing away with inspection stickers then not only did that not happen but the price went up.

Simple; VA is used to collecting $xxx from gasoline tax. Currently 26.2 cents/gallon.  Now everybody is driving econoboxes with high mileage and EVs, so the tax collected is less.  VA is not giving up tax money so they added a fee to super econo cars (25mpg+) and EVs (fixed $109/year).

https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/#highwayuse_fee.asp

TYCOM

It cannot be $1200 just for the registration and gas tax for EVs. I just got a Tesla and registration and gas tax was $146 and some change for one year.

Adding property taxes in maybe to make it sound more expensive???

In VA, we pay the Personal Property Tax directly to the city/county not to DMV (please correct me if I am wrong).

Just wait til the VCEA kicks in in 2045 for Dominion and 2050 for AEP.  
"The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) will transform Virginia's energy economy. The bill codifies a roadmap to a 100% carbon-free electricity grid and ends in-state fossil fuel generation in Virginia."

and...wait til this kicks in: https://www.transportationandclimate.org/content/about-us
The participating jurisdictions are: Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

I think this one has dates to limit purchase and REGISTRATION of internal combustion engines around 2030 for trucks/busses and 2050 for everything else.  Something along those lines.

We can thank the democrats for signing us up for both of these gifts that will undoubtedly destroy the economy in Virginia.

You are correct but I still consider property tax part of the fees when registering because you are required to do both even though  you are sending the money to different places.  I've been a VA resident for 52 years.  Just trying to figure out where $1200 statement would come from.  David