TREATING THE ROADS LIKE PRODUCTIVE ASSETS.

There are ways to tax fossil fuels at the point of sale, which is one way states raise money to maintain the roads they build.  Electric cars skip the pump, which leads to some reactions that might ... not have the desired effect of inducing more use of them.

The latest foolishness, raising the registration fee on electric and hybrid cars and trucks to collect in one lump sum what they're not collecting at the pump.  Kea Wilson for Strong Towns goes after Missouri, but the same foolishness is infecting Wisconsin lawmakers.  I can't make this stuff up.  "If what we want are safe roads that we can afford to repair, why on earth would we incentivize drivers to buy gas guzzling vehicles—which skew towards the heaviest vehicles most capable of causing extensive road damage—rather than light, fuel efficient vehicles that might help keep that pavement intact for longer?"

The reality:  registration fees and excise taxes don't even come close to covering the full cost of roads, and a reality-based accounting might lead to the highway commissioners choosing to close some roads, or let them revert to cattle paths.

In Iowa, it occurred to somebody that motorists use recharging stations, which have electric meters, and that in the same way all the motor fuel tax comes bundled with the price, the battery recharging tax could come bundled with the price.

While state lawmakers are currently debating new taxes for charging electric vehicles, Iowa is set to collect those taxes starting in July. Four years ago, when EVs were still rare on Iowa roads, legislators approved a law that taxes kilowatt hours sold.

Apparently -- the article does not provide details -- there are ways to charge residents a lower recharging tax than nonresidents.  The highway commissioners are focused more on having the resources to keep the roads in a state of good repair.

Some advocates questioned the creation of a new tax for EV users, arguing that it would discourage people from buying the cleaner vehicles. But lawmakers ultimately agreed to focus on how to keep road fund revenues steady.

“Iowa is very much a pay-as-you-go, user-fee-based system for roads and bridges. We don’t bond for it,” [Iowa transportation staffer Stuart] Anderson explained. He said the discussion centered on how to make sure electric vehicle owners were paying their “fair share” for the upkeep and construction of the road network.

“We did not make our recommendations and establish those rates to generate new money. This was solely based on how we could capture what we’re losing in fuel tax revenue,” he said.

For all the talk about "user fees" and "pay-as-you-go" apparently tolling is not yet an option.

The increased registration fee is intended to capture most, but not all, of the lost fuel taxes from Iowa residents. The kilowatt-hour charge, however, would ensure that out-of-state EV drivers contributed to Iowa’s roads.

That’s especially important for large commercial trucks, which pass through the state on Interstate 80 and other major highways. Electric trucks are far less common than electric passenger vehicles, but they will likely become a bigger factor in coming years, Anderson said.

There's no reason Interstate 80 couldn't be a turnpike, is there?