If the EV madness continues, this will be coming to Australia

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Thursday's Energy Absurdity: In California, the tax-per-mile 'conspiracy theory' becomes reality David Blackmon May 23 READ IN APP Upgrade to paid For several years now, boosters of the failing energy transition have publicly dismissed critics who have speculated that their ultimate goal where transportation is concerned is not merely to shift private car owners to adopt EVs, but to make the cost of owning a car so expensive that all but the most elite in society give up their cars altogether. Anyone reaching that imminently logical conclusion based on the evidence at hand has been dismissed as a ‘conspiracy theorist,’ or something worse. Share One easy way to make owning a car increasingly costly would be to tax drivers on a cents-per-mile basis. With EVs replacing some percentage of gas-powered cars, states are finding their slush funds of taxes collected at the gas pump dwindling and are looking for ways to get the revenue flowing again. Some states, like Texas, are doing that with a hefty annual fee on EVs, but taking that route is hard to hide and tends to get hubris-filled EV buyers into a tizzy about having to actually help pay for the roads their extremely heavy vehicles do so much to damage. Go figure. So, politicians being politicians, many are looking for a way to do this that’s somewhat easier to hide and seems “fair,” at least on the surface. For this reason, we now see the politicians and regulators in California (because of course it’s in California - where else?) now running tests on assessing a new tax based on miles driven each year. Here’s an excerpt from a story at Motor Trend: To combat the reduced gas tax revenue without singling out EV owners or trying to approximate an electric car's equivalent gas use or some other scheme that, it's assumed, nearly everyone (owners of gas cars and EVs alike) might find unfair, the California Department of Transportation (known as Caltrans) is considering ditching the gas tax all together in exchange for imposing a use tax on all vehicles, which would charged per mile driven, regardless of what powers your car. To test it out, Caltrans has launched a pilot program called “California Road Charge.” How will the state keep track of how many miles you drive? Well, those who are volunteering to participate in the Road Charge pilot program can elect to have a tracking device installed in their car. Alternatively, participants can also just take a picture of their odometer and submit that instead. [End] Mind you, California has already adopted a $100 annual road damage fee on EVs, which is half the Texas fee. Now, in addition to that, the state is moving to invoke a per-mile fee by forcing drivers to accept a tracking device being installed in their car. Thus does yet another ‘conspiracy theory’ become reality. While state officials now claim the per-mile fee would replace the traditional at-the-pump gas tax, you can be certain that will not happen. This is a state dealing with the most massive state budget deficit in US history, after all. But I suppose that’s just another ‘conspiracy theory,’ right? My advice: Bookmark this piece and get back to me when the conspiracy becomes the next reality. Thanks to podcasting partner Tammy Nemeth for tipping me off to the Motor Trend story. That is all. You're currently a free subscriber to Energy Transition Absurdities. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid Like Comment Restack © 2024 David Blackmon 10324 Reata Estates Drive, Mansfield, TX 76063 Unsubscribe