PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Drivers of electric cars and plug-in hybrids in Pennsylvania are starting to receive bills from the state in the mail — the state's new EV fee to help maintain roads and bridges.
As of the beginning of April, Pennsylvania began to impose a $200 a year "road user charge" on EV owners.
The state maintains roads with revenue from the gasoline tax. While EVs don't use gasoline, they drive on the same roads. So last year, the Pennsylvania legislature adopted the new EV fee.
"As one of the many EV owners in Philadelphia, if that were to happen, then I shouldn't be paying the tax for the electricity I'm using," Danny Dong of Chinatown told KYW Newsradio Friday.
"Either the public chargers or the home chargers, we pay all of the electricity taxes on the utilities. So if that's the case, why should I pay another so-called tax just for EVs?"
Margee Miller of Washington Square West drives a Tesla, and she doesn't think the EV fee is so bad. "Two hundred dollars doesn't seem like much, but for some people, maybe it is a lot. But it does seem like we should pay our fair share," she said.
In Pennsylvania, the EV fee is separate from the vehicle registration payment. PennDOT expects that EV owners will be able to pay the new fees online by August.
New Jersey launched its own $250 EV fee last year.