Electric car owners in Texas may be taking a financial hit soon.
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Houston Chronicle
Michael Murney, Chron
Electric car owners in Texas may have to start paying annual fees to the state government soon.
The House vote follows approval of a similar bill by the Texas Senate in late March. The final version now awaits Gov. Greg Abbott's signature before becoming law.
Lawmakers supporting the bill argue that the fees are necessary to make up for the taxes electric vehicle drivers avoid paying at the pump–taxes that go towards maintaining public infrastructure that they still rely on to get around.
Texas is one of more than a dozen states that have recently moved to add some sort of fee for electric vehicle owners. According to MYEV.com, there are currently 17 states that charge electric vehicle owners extra annual fees, including California, Colorado, Georgia and Ohio.
According to Tech Crunch's Weber, "Though Texas is certainly not alone in moving forward with such a bill, its $200 fee is on the high end, matching only Georgia. Colorado is the state with the lowest EV fee (excluding states that have no fees), at $50 per year."
Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, spoke out against the bill, telling KRLD that it "will make it harder for Texans to afford these clean vehicles which are so critical to reducing air pollution in Texas."