RiverDog wrote:Here's a good discussion on the complexities of figuring out how to tax EV's and do it fairly:
Electric vehicles produce no air pollution and are more efficient than other vehicle types in power consumption terms, but they use up the roads just as much, or even more, since they tend to be a lot heavier due to the weight of batteries.
A wholesale, global shift in car taxation is therefore inevitable. Fuel tax as a proxy for taxing road usage is going to be increasingly broken as EVs become more common. There has been some talk about singling out electricity destined for EV charging and taxing that in some countries, but without more standardization and unity amongst how the public charge point services are run, particularly considering the free charging business models provided by services like Volta’s, this seems like a non-starter. More likely is a mileage-based tax system, possibly with a differentiation based on vehicle weight. Most EVs are Internet-connected in some way, so it could be possible to track miles driven and bill accordingly. Heavy users, such as travelling salesmen, would pay a lot more, and this would act as an incentive only to use a car when you really need to. Whatever system ends up being used, governments around the world will have to make up for the money they have traditionally obtained from fossil fuel usage. After a few more years of incentives for early adoption, that is going to have to come from EVs. So enjoy the cheap electric driving while it lasts, because EVs will be taxed a lot more as they become the dominant type of car.https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmorri ... 05ef554407Once people pick up on this and realize that with the
"internet connected" vehicles relaying driving information to the government, there are going to be a lot of them that will object due to legitimate privacy concerns.
It's going to be an issue, and with each state responsible for their own highway maintenance and with the federal government wanting their share of revenue, there's going to be a huge debate on how best to do it.
It's going to be easier than it's ever been. You are creating a problem where there is none. The capability is built into each EV. Even if they decide to go with taxation based on charging, they have the math people to work out an equation that will meet their needs.
It's not going to be hard to implement. They probably already have a transition plan in place based on equations that calculate average/mean miles traveled per watt. I expect them to implement quickly and effectively adjusting as needed.
The tech for doing this easily already exists. Cars are not hard to manage. From what I understand computer-assisted driving will cut down massively on car crashes and deaths per year as well as cars wrecks causing property damage as well. Tesla's at least are one of the safest cars on the road. And as the assisted driving or full self driving becomes more prominent, they will become even safer.
You're really looking to push a problem they likely already have figured out. As far as installing GPS, every Tesla and most cars have GPS already built in. A lot of the modern anti-theft systems allow you to track the location of your car on your phone by tapping into the onboard GPS. I think that's what surprises me a little bit is you think they will have to install a GPS transponder, when most modern EVs will have that already onboard.
Some of the bottlenecks for EV adoption I see as an investor:
1. Old multifamily dwelling (apartments) having enough vehicle charging capacity for their tenants. Most existing apartments are not designed with EV charging capability. This is going to require expensive upgrades unless someone comes up with an inexpensive solution.
Homeowners can purchase home vehicle chargers easily, but apartment dwellers have it a little harder.
2. Cost. So far the cost of buying an EV is down to middle class range, but not lower income folks. Still too expensive and goes hand in hand with the lack of vehicle charging infrastructure in apartment complexes where lower income people normally dwell.
3. What to do with ICE manufacturing facilities and associated businesses like gas station owners, parts manufacturers, mechanics, and the like. EVs don't use the same parts as ICE vehicles. Vehicle parts are a big business and that will kill a very big market with a lot of employed folks. Gas stations also won't likely be necessary. Charging will occur often at home or in a place where people can go to a store or something similar. Fast super charging might help this some, but even 20 minutes of charging on a super charger is more than the 3 or 4 minutes to gas up lowering the volume a gas station type of facility could push through. So gas stations will go the way of the dodo bird.
Tesla has a lot of automation in its factories. That will greatly lessen the number of workers needed to produce a vehicle. I expect former ICE manufacturers to adopt automation in their factories to compete reducing the number of autoworkers needed.
Some of this will likely be picked up by EV parts suppliers, primarily battery makers. But how much I don't know. The auto industry is in for immense disruption in almost every way from EVs and the oil industry as well. It's difficult to imagine this will be a smooth transition. I expect it to be fairly painful for a lot of gas station owners and vehicle parts stores as well as auto shops.
Those are some of the things I worry about far more than how the government will tax charging or EVs. ICE vehicles and associated businesses are an immense part of the American economy. It's going to change a lot and rapidly as more EVs are produced and adopted.
4. Temperature issues. Harder to implement EVs in cold weather climes especially with lots of snow and ice and isolation like Alaska or Minnesota.