I paid a premium to get the MPGs out of my Pri vs getting getting a non-hybrid that would get decent mileage, still, the math says it'll save me a lot of money in the long run. Increase the registration fees across the board or the gas taxes, but don't punish those who were smart. Not to mention how little sense it makes, there are hybrids that get terrible gas mileage and some non-hybrids that get respectable mileage. Common sense it too much to ask sometimes.
Toyota and the other hybrid manufacturers needs to get their lobbyists on this. Our voices aren't loud enough.
I'm telling you... the more I read, the more I believe there will be a North Virginia, a West Virginia and a South Virginia very very soon.
I agree. NC is trying to tax hybrid owners at registration and trying to outlaw the Tesla Sales Model. What's going on there?
...don't forget South Jersey ...we were going to succeed when I lived there. Virginia is like New Jersey except the difference is in Jersey the richer, more populated North Jersey runs the show in politics. In Virginia, we have the less affluent and less populated (repub) rural areas in charge of the state politics.
Can't they just tax those who do not have a car? They are the ones who do not pay for the road they walk on and bicycle on. This tax could be added to shoes/socks/sandals and bicycles. There are more jay walker and bicyclists than prius on the road.
The more I think about it, the less I can understand how changing to strict miles driven, or miles × weight, would even be difficult. Copy odometer to this year's renewal. Copy odometer to next year's renewal. Subtract. Multiply. If you want to factor in vehicle weight, that's already in car model databases the BMV can use. Some BMVs already do because they already have a weight-based component in the fee. Use current registrations to estimate the makeup of the fleet and current published mileage averages to estimate vehicle miles driven. Set the initial fee structure to roughly equal current gas tax + registration revenue. Adjust as needed based on actual results. The road wear we're trying to pay for is pretty much some fixed effects (like freeze/thaw) plus pound-miles driven. Fuel tax is just an indirect way of trying to measure pound-miles and it doesn't work because it isn't applied to all fuels, and the fuel-per-pound-mile factor varies. In many fields people resort to measuring proxy values because the things they really want to know are inherently hard to measure directly. But that's not the case here; we've got published weight data and every vehicle's got an odometer built right in.... -Chap
I think you were on the right path when you said the new fees hurt hybrids because we already paid +$4000 to purchase the car, not to mention more sales taxes. I am happy you save a lot of money, but I assume you are telling me that you put on a lot of miles to get enough fuel savings to more than make up the difference. I do not think it is in America's best interest to have taxes on hybrids so high that only road warriors profit from the fuel savings. I am looking at retirement in the face (in fact I did semi-retire) and I would like to own a hybrid even if my miles per year drops below 10,000. In VA, I can go ahead a buy hybrid if I want to, but it would be a donation to the eco-system, not for enough fuel savings to pay off taxes and car cost.
I do not really agree. I am wondering if the US auto makers are supporting the hybrid fees since it hurts Toyota more selectively. One thing seems clear: Toyota is silent on it.
Starting from the idea that USE should PAY, it is idiotic to base use on miles driven when vehicle weight is the overwhelming variable. There must be at least a few state congress critters in NC and VA who are not science morons.
Even with lower mileage the Prius will save money over other cars in a shorter time than you might think. Resale value and low maintenance/repair costs will overcome other cars quickly even at only 10-12k miles a year. At least that's the case with the figures on my C vs other hatchbacks (per Intellichoice). Miles driven vs weight is another option, but then it gets a little more complicated. I like things simple, Id like a flat tax, but that ain't gonna happen. The only downside to the Prius under a miles/weight system is it does weigh a bit more than other cars of it's size, but not so much so that the owners would get hammered with fees, unlike SUV and large pick up drivers would.
