LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Electric car owners pay a higher state registration fee that averages around $140, but they are saving hundreds of dollars by not paying the state gas tax.
The road-building industry and others are asking Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the new state legislation to find a new way to tax EVs.
“As the industry transitions, we have to have a way to pay for roads and bridges that transition as well,” said Whitmer.
Around a dozen states are looking at imposing a user fee based on the number of miles driven, otherwise known as the so-called VMT or vehicle miles traveled plan.
Whitmer said that she is confident that a VMT can be created for Michigan, but she will not endorse it just yet.
“I’m not going to endorse something that I haven’t had the opportunity to study and work with the legislature to see if we can get it over the finish line,” said Whitmer.
While the governor is not ready to embrace taxing EVs based on the mileage, here for the first time, she reveals she will back some form of a new user fee.
Some have argued if the state imposes another user fee on the EVs, some consumers may not buy them.
“Most environmentalists that I talk to are very pragmatic people and they understand if you’re going to encourage people to transition to EVs, we have to build up the infrastructure to support it,” remarked the governor.
