The “free” ride for electric vehicles may be coming to an end in the next year or so.

And you can blame the big bad Republicans in Congress.

The Republican budget proposal for the federal fiscal year starting Oct. 1 originally included annual federal registration fees of $250 for electric vehicles and $100 for hybrid vehicles.

That came after the House Transportation Committee in April originally included a $20 federal registration fee for all vehicles with a $200 annual EV fee and $100 yearly hybrid fee.

The universal vehicle fee was dropped before the bill went to the Senate.

In June, the Senate committee jacked the EV fee up to $250 before killing the idea, at least for this year, of any federal registration fee.

It was dropped for logistical reasons given there is no mechanism in place for collecting federal vehicle registration fees.

Some are trying to paint the effort as a Republican attempt to undermine EV sales and/or as a way to essentially “stick out their tongue” at the green movement.

It is neither.

But it is about green, as in the cash needed to underwrite federal highway transportation projects ranging from repairing and building freeways to major infrastructure such as bridges.

The federal funding comes from 18.4 cents collected on every gallon of gasoline sold in the United States.

A gas powered car owner logging 27,713 miles a year while averaging 25 miles per gallon would be paying $200 a year in federal gas tax.

An EV owner driving 27,713 a year pays none.

That means EVs pay nothing in federal gas tax, or state gas tax, that funds the upkeep and maintenance of roads they use.

It is actually worse than that.

EVs based on vehicle sizes weigh more than gas powered vehicles.

That additional weight means more wear and tear on roads.

It is why pickup trucks and full-size SUVs have higher registration fees in California than passenger vehicles. Semi-trucks pay significantly more in both registration and diesel fuel taxes.

In the case of the federal government, the diesel tax is 24.4 cents a gallon.

Critics say this will discourage the purchasing of EVs.

They argue the real problem is the federal gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993.

The honest answer to that is yes and no.

With improved gas mileage since 1993, motorists have been paying less for miles drive in federal gas taxes. States like California have adjusted gas taxes to account for both inflation and less miles driven per gas powered vehicle.

But hiking the federal gas tax would mean EVs would still be using roads without paying for them. As for hybrids, the argument could be made they’re paying less than their fair share.

Raising the federal gas tax without a mechanism to collect funds for  federal road work would be extremely regressive.

It’s because poorer people are highly unlikely to drive EVs. And often they drive vehicles that get lower gas mileage often because of the fact they are simply older.

That said, a flat fee on all EVs would also be unfair given it makes no adjustment for those that drive less mileage annually. It would also treat a “light weight” Nissan Leaf than a much heavier Tesla S model.

What is needed sooner or later is an equitable way to fund not just the federal highway and road projects but ones on the state level as well.

Assessing fees on the amount of electricity it takes to charge a car is only possible to do at commercial chargers. Trying to do so on home EV charging is extremely problematic at best.

And if the mandate for zero-emission vehicles in California by 2035 and elsewhere as some advocate by 2045 never gets revived, it still doesn’t address the inequities in funding the upkeep of roads.

California is near the mark were roughly 25 percent of all new cars being purchased are EVs.

Nationally, EV sales in 2024 accounted for 8.7 percent of all new vehicles that were sold.

Experts anticipate a dip in EV sales now that the $7,500 federal tax credit is being eliminated on Sept. 30.

However, even before Uncle Sam’s tax credit was successfully targeted, EV sales were plateauing nationally.

The odds are EV sales will probably gain a larger share of new car sales in California.

If for no other reason, the proliferation of them will likely encourage others to take the plunge especially as technology advances and somewhat less expensive versions are rolled out.

It also helps that California as a whole is by far the most advanced state when it comes to charging options away from home as well as being available in a growing number of remote areas.

It is why the needed solution to replace gas tax with some other form of tax to cover road maintenance and such will likely come out of Sacramento out of financial necessity.

The California DMV completed a pilot program in March where drivers paid taxes based at 2.5 cents per mile driven for vehicles under 10,000 pounds.

Participants kept track of their gas purchases and were reimbursed for the gas tax they paid.

The data is being analyzed with the results expected later this year.

It is the most viable solution going forward.

A system would need to be created that reads mileage remotely and a system put in place to assess the tax and collect it.

California is likely a number of years away from being at the point such a system would be ready to go.

And it would require authorization of the California Legislature and the signature of the five for it to happen.

Onboard devices would be needed for such a system to work

Using an honor system based on drivers reading odometers and sending the DMV the numbers or dropping by a DMV office on an annual basis for a reading and billing  is guaranteed not to have anywhere near 100 percent compliance.

As such, it would add privacy concerns to the debate as such a remote system would require GPS technology which means the government could track vehicles.

The bottom line is fairness and the need to keep our nation’s roads in shape demands the gas tax be replaced.

Arguments that avoiding the paying of the per gallon gas tax in California — which is 91.9 cents once Sacramento’s gas tax is tossed in — is the primarily reason why it is less expensive to operate an EV in the Golden State than gas powered vehicles should not carry any weight.

This is not an air quality issue.

This is not a climate issue.

This is a revenue issue for needed road work that all vehicles create.

As such, it is a financial equity issue.

—  This column is the opinion of Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Courier or 209 Multimedia. He may be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com