Not Paying for Gas: What North Carolina Electric Vehicle Drivers Do Pay For
North Carolina State is charging EV owners an extra charge to cover the revenue lost from the gas tax. However, running EVs in the state is still cheap.
The
North Carolina
Department of Transport (NCDOT) has decided to charge electric vehicle owners in place of the gas tax. This money is meant to help them develop the road infrastructure in the state. There is no tax holiday on gasoline
customers pay at the pump.Since EV owners do not pay for the gas, they escape the tax, which the government needs to take care of the roads. Let's explore the new legislation and the amount they are supposed to pay, and the various
insurance
options available.There is an increase in electric vehicles in North Carolina
WCNC Charlotte
states that the NCDOT has registered over 21,000 electric vehicles in 2021. In 2018, there was an executive order by Governor Roy Cooper that pushed zero-emission vehicles to more than 80,000 by 2025. If all these vehicles did not pay the gas tax, the authorities would be losing between $10.7 million and $18.4 million that could be used on infrastructure each year.
Currently, the North Carolina law requires EV owners to pay $140 in addition to the standard registration fees. However, hybrid owners do not pay this amount. In addition, EV owners pay $50 less each year than gas vehicle owners in fees and total taxes.
The state is balancing between collecting revenue and encouraging more people to buy EVs to deal with gas emissions.
North Carolina EV owners pay for the power they consume at the station
The North Carolina law allows those operating public electric car charging stations to charge electric vehicle owners for the electricity they use to charge the car batteries.
Before then, the law protected the power companies by banning the resale of power except at recreation vehicle parks and boat marinas. Therefore, the charging stations were not receiving any payment for the power.
Transport Topics
states that charging fees were included in the parking fees or a standard charge for the time that EV owners spend at the charging station
. This law is expected to encourage more operators to set up power stations across the state. Unfortunately, it means that EV owners will be reaching deeper into their pockets, given that they will be paying extra to run their vehicles.
Is it cheaper to have an EV with rising prices?
Despite the additional charges in North Carolina, it is still cheaper to maintain an electric vehicle than one powered by a combustion engine, even if owners take
steps to save money on gas
. In the recent past, fuel prices have been skyrocketing at an alarming rate. However, EV owners have enjoyed the same power rates of about a dollar per full charge.
Fees and taxes make up just a fraction of the entire cost of gas. Therefore, even if combustion vehicle owners paid similar amounts to those charged on EVs, they would still pay more at the pump.
On the other hand, the North Carolina government has taken steps to promote clean energy with various incentives that seek to lower the total cost.
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