bae
5-13-21, 6:29pm
I'm not sure they've really thought things through....
A year or so ago, right before the pandemic, I bought a little used Fiat 500E, for ~$9000. Works great, pretty zippy, all electric. I use it for almost all my random on-island car trips now. It has a range of ~90 miles, and is driven exclusively on island roads, never on the mainland. Island roads are entirely County, or private.
Went to renew the tabs for this today....
All my other sedans and sports cars are $68.75 each to renew in WA. This cheap little electric car though comes to $293.25! There's a $150 charge for "Electric Vehicle Registration" atop the regular fees, and an additional $75 charge for "Transportation Electrification", which I'm guessing is to subsidize electric buses for Seattle.
These add-on fees are presumably to make up for the fact that they aren't getting gasoline tax from me. Now, mind you, the vehicle is never driven on any roads that those tax funds are designated for....
So basically, if I'd bought the gas version of the Fiat 500, it'd be ~1/4 the car tab fees...
And for further contrast, the fee for my 9800 lb diesel-burning Hummer H1 came to only $108 (1/3 the cost of the teeny Fiat), because it gets hit with an extra weight charge...
A year or so ago, right before the pandemic, I bought a little used Fiat 500E, for ~$9000. Works great, pretty zippy, all electric. I use it for almost all my random on-island car trips now. It has a range of ~90 miles, and is driven exclusively on island roads, never on the mainland. Island roads are entirely County, or private.
Went to renew the tabs for this today....
All my other sedans and sports cars are $68.75 each to renew in WA. This cheap little electric car though comes to $293.25! There's a $150 charge for "Electric Vehicle Registration" atop the regular fees, and an additional $75 charge for "Transportation Electrification", which I'm guessing is to subsidize electric buses for Seattle.
These add-on fees are presumably to make up for the fact that they aren't getting gasoline tax from me. Now, mind you, the vehicle is never driven on any roads that those tax funds are designated for....
So basically, if I'd bought the gas version of the Fiat 500, it'd be ~1/4 the car tab fees...
And for further contrast, the fee for my 9800 lb diesel-burning Hummer H1 came to only $108 (1/3 the cost of the teeny Fiat), because it gets hit with an extra weight charge...