States around the US are imposing new fees on electric-car owners to make them contribute to state highway maintenance funds. Some can be quite onerous, such as the $1,000 fee for electric-car registration proposed last week in the Illinois legislature, compared to a $148 fee for other cars. CHECK OUT: 17 states have passed extra fees on electric... How should EV owners pay for road maintenance? Take our Twitter poll
States around the US are imposing new fees on electric-car owners to make them contribute to state highway maintenance funds. Some can be quite onerous, such as the $1,000 fee for electric-car registration proposed last week in the Illinois legislature, compared to a $148 fee for other cars. CHECK OUT: 17 states have passed extra fees on electric... 
Toyota announced pricing for the new 2019 Prius AWD-e. In trade talks with the Trump administration, VW's CEO revealed the company could use Ford factories in the U.S. to build new models—which could include electric cars. Rioters in France this month won what they wanted: a reprieve from higher gas taxes meant to reduce climate change. And... 
![Gasoline prices in California, August 2012 [photo: Brenda Priddy]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/gasoline-prices-in-california-august-2012-photo-brenda-priddy_100398278_t.gif)
Rioting in the streets is the sword of Damocles hanging over every decision a politician makes—especially when those streets happen to be French. And rioting in the streets is what put an end to a new gas-tax proposal in France this week. Technically, its wasn't even a straight gas tax. DON'T MISS: Trump administration plans to end... 
![BMW ActiveE electric car in front of old gas pumps, Belvidere, NJ [photo: Tom Moloughney]](https://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/bmw-activee-electric-car-in-front-of-old-gas-pumps-belvidere-nj-photo-tom-moloughney_100412542_t.gif)
Nobody likes paying gas taxes, and that seems particularly true for drivers who don't buy gas—such as those who drive electric cars. As legislators have begun to notice more electric cars on the roads, more of them have become concerned about their drivers not buying gas—and so not paying any gas taxes. According to a new editorial by... 
The federal gas tax, which was supposed to pay for repairs and expansion to roads maintained or funded by the national government, now does nothing of the kind. Congress last raised the U.S. federal gas tax a quarter of a century ago in 1993, to the 18.5-cents-per-gallon level it remains at today. Diesel fuel is taxed at 24.4 cents per gallon... 
Maine has become the latest in a growing string of states to propose adding registration fees for hybrid and electric cars to make up for tax revenue on the gasoline they don't use, or use less of. But it's also part of a much smaller group of those states in which the fees are punitive: drivers of those cars pay more than the gas taxes paid by... 
It's an unusual thing, to say the least, when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce publicly suggests a major tax increase. In general, the pro-business lobbying group advocates for tax cuts, reducing or eliminating regulations, and free-market policies that allow companies to operate however they choose. But there it was on Tuesday: The Chamber will... 
Last week, the California state legislature approved a $52 billion transportation-funding package. Unlike the practice in previous years, this one is to be used only for improvements to the transportation infrastructure, to begin cutting into an estimated $ 130 billion backlog of repairs and expansions. As a result of the new bill, owners of... 
Several different states have continued to propose new fees for electric-car owners as a way to pay for road repairs. The fees are typically meant as a substitute for the gasoline taxes that, because they don't buy gas, electric-car owners don't pay. Advocates have criticized these fees, saying they effectively penalize drivers for reducing... 
Indiana may soon follow Michigan in implementing fees for electric cars, with the stated goal of helping to pay for road repairs. Michigan is now adding fees for electric cars, as well as plug-in hybrids and battery-electric cars, because they don't burn enough gasoline to generate the same state tax revenue as other vehicles. Similar reasoning... 
The state of Michigan, to help pay for road repairs, decided more than a year ago to sock owners of hybrids and electric cars with additional fees starting this January 1—on top of higher registration rates for all cars. The new fees have been added to the registration bills for hybrids, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric cars because they... 
President-elect Donald Trump nominated former labor secretary Elaine Chao to be his secretary of transportation yesterday. She will follow current DoT secretary Antony Foxx, who himself succeeded Ray LaHood in 2013. Foxx has focused on safety recalls following the GM ignition scandal, as well as tactics to reduce distracted driving and rules for... ![BMW ActiveE electric car in front of old gas pumps, Belvidere, NJ [photo: Tom Moloughney]](http://images.hgmsites.net/tmb/bmw-activee-electric-car-in-front-of-old-gas-pumps-belvidere-nj-photo-tom-moloughney_100412542_t.gif)
Critics of electric cars often use the argument that, because electric-car drivers don't pay gas taxes, they don't contribute their fair share of road-maintenance costs. But state gas-tax revenue don't necessarily go toward funding infrastructure, or at least not all of it. In last Tuesday's election, voters in one state ensured that their...