California launches pilot program to charge drivers for miles driven

California is the nation’s largest electric vehicle market by a wide margin, and the relatively high percentage of battery-powered cars is burning a hole in the state’s budget because it relies on gas tax revenues to fund road maintenance. . Lawmakers want to replace the gas tax with a new mileage-based tax to offset the loss and plan to begin testing this system by launching a pilot program in August 2024.

Lauren Prehoda, Caltrans spokeswoman, counted means of communication ABC7 that maintaining California’s highway network costs approximately $8.5 billion annually. “The vast majority” of this amount comes from taxes that the State collects every time someone fills up their car’s tank. Put another way, California loses money when someone replaces a gas-powered car with an EV. Hybrids are also eating into the budget. State officials estimate there were about 1.1 million electric cars and 1.3 million hybrids on California roads in 2022.

“On average, Californians pay about $300 a year in state gas taxes. EVs cost $100 [annual] registration fee. That’s a loss of $200 million a year,” Prehoda said. Note that California plans to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035, so its gas tax revenues will fall to zero.

Caltrans is proposing a solution called California Road Charge, which would record the number of miles driven annually and tax drivers accordingly. The tariff has not been defined because the Road Tax remains in the prototype phase; It’s not a law yet. However, a cost simulator The program’s website lists three options: $0.02, $0.03 and $0.04 per mile. It also argues that this system could allow some drivers to save money. For example, if you drive a 2023 Honda Pilot 1,600 miles per month, your monthly on-road bill would be $20, $30, or $40, depending on which of the three hypothetical rates apply to you. The site states that the same driver currently pays $27.57 in monthly fuel taxes. It is electric vehicle drivers who will end up spending more: they would pay the same monthly road tax, but they currently pay no tax on gasoline.

In theory, drivers could choose how the state tracks their mileage. They could connect an electronic device to the car, use the car’s built-in tracking system, or send Caltrans a photo of the odometer. “Everyone has different comfort levels when managing our data between efficiency and privacy, which is why it’s really important to have options from low-tech to high-tech,” Prehoda said. ABC7.

Drivers interested in participating in the pilot program can sign up on the California Road Charge website. State officials will select an undetermined number of candidates in July 2024. These drivers will be required to make monthly road fee payments between August 2024 and January 2025 and will need to complete two surveys about their experience. The state will refund the gas tax or EV registration fee at the end of the program. To make the project more attractive, Caltrans will give participants up to $400 in gift cards.

Data collected during the program will help lawmakers determine whether the Highway Tax should replace the state gas tax.