LETTER: Nevada needs a tax on EV drivers

Your Nov. 19 article, “County extends inflation adjustment for fuel tax,” indicates that gasoline is taxed at 78.2 cents per gallon, according to MJ Maynard-Carey, CEO of the Regional Transportation Commission. The federal government collects 18.4 cents, Nevada collects 24.1 cents, Clark County takes 9.5 cents and 26.2 cents goes to the RTC. Clark County Commission Chair Tick Segerblom said in the article that he thinks it’s a perfect tax because the people who use the roads are paying for the roads.

I don’t disagree with his statement, but I would like to suggest that perhaps the commission look into an equitable method to charge the folks driving electric vehicles and hybrids so they also pay a comparable rate when they use the roads.

Nevada does not currently have a special electric vehicle road tax, but it does have a mileage-based road usage fee program that began on July 1. Under this program, EV owners can choose to pay a fee of 8 cents per mile, up to a maximum of $50 per year, instead of the higher registration fees that other states might charge.

For comparative purposes, assume that a gasoline-powered vehicle were to be driven 10,000 miles annually and it gets 20 miles per gallon. The fuel tax at 78.2 cents per gallon equates to an annual cost of $391. Based on these numbers, the $50 cap is totally insufficient, and I would suggest a modification needs to be considered because, as Mr. Segerblom stated, they use the roads so it’s only fair that they pay their fair share.