HONOLULU — The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved a bill to boost the registration fees in Hawaii for electric and hybrid vehicles.
HONOLULU — The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved a bill to boost the registration fees in Hawaii for electric and hybrid vehicles.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports the bill would impose an extra annual registration fee of $70 for electric vehicles and $35 for hybrids to try to equalize the tax burden between conventional vehicles and the more fuel-efficient hybrids and electric cars.
Owners of electric vehicles currently pay weight taxes and a registration fee of $45 per vehicle per year, but do not pay the gasoline tax.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Inouye says since the gas tax is one of the primary sources of funding for maintaining the state network of roadways, “we need to have them pay their fair share.”
Inouye says there are about 7,000 electric vehicles and 25,000 hybrids on Hawaii highways.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
How ass-backwards can they get? Folks with electric or hybrid vehicles should have to pay less. They are using less fossil fuels and protecting the environment, but in Trump’s world, this is a crime. I should have bought a coal powered car.
This is SO wrong and unfair! The oil industry must love this idea of taxing EVs! Government is supposed to ENCOURAGE and incentivize EVs! This is a crazy idea that PENALIZES and DISCOURAGES them. Government should waive ALL registration costs for EVs instead to get more people to buy these environmentally friendly cars.