this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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Well, a flat fee doesn't take into account vehicle weight or annual mileage, which the gas tax more-or-less does. And the road maintenance cost is a function of those two things. A flat fee would penalize drivers of infrequently-driven small vehicles.
But...I suppose that gathering that data would also add some privacy concerns and costs, like the government needing to record how many miles your vehicle has traveled in a year.
EDIT: The really obnoxious thing is that everyone else is grabbing movement data on vehicles to make money off. Automakers via integrated cell radios. ALPR network operators. I assume that charging station operators do too
fast DC connections like NACS transmit the vehicle's VIN, and I'd be very surprised if charging companies aren't monetizing that data.
Damage to the road scales with axle load using a fourth power. Yes a fourth power. So an average truck does roughly 3000x more damage to road surfaces than an average EV.
Yet, weather influences account for the majority of road wear, so the weight of cars really does not matter at all.
Weight is just the mechanism to tax cars in many countries. Whether its fair to exempt EVs from road taxes is a different story, and depends on the type of behaviour a government wants to promote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law
Playing devils advocate the average weight of an ev is roughly a 1000lbs more than an equivalent ice car.
My Bolt EV weighs like 3600 pounds, about 400 pounds more than my old ICE Honda Accord. Maybe we should tax vehicles based on manufacturer spec curb weight. That might push demand for smaller, lighter, more efficient cars.
I genuinely agree with this. It would help curb the push for monster trucks with less veiw than abram tanks.
The weight of an average truck is roughly 80.000lbs more. Now add a power of 4 to that.
Commercial vehicle taxes are already scaled by weight and milage.