It was a Trap all along ! ! !

So, . . . like, . . . all along, . . . the average Joe who bought an electric vehicle supposed owning one was a good thing, . . . less environmentally damaging, . . . and quieter to boot.  Plus one didn't need to patronize the evil oil-companies' gasoline stations.

Well someone else has taken notice, . . . the legislators of The Prarie State.  That'd be the paradise that is Illinois.

From the Chicago Tribune :

"A proposed hike in Illinois’ annual registration fee for electric vehicles, from $17.50 to $1,000, is being called unfair by current EV owners, and a sales disincentive by manufacturers — just as the new technology is beginning to gain broader traction.

Aimed at raising money to make overdue road improvements across Illinois, the proposed legislation would also more than double the state’s gas tax to 44 cents a gallon and raise the registration fee for standard vehicles to $148, from $98, among other elements.                               But the kicker is a nearly 60-fold increase in the electric vehicle registration fee — one that is sure to cause sticker shock across a nascent segment of the auto industry, which has depended on government incentives to entice early adopters.

The justification for the dramatic hike? Electric vehicles don’t provide the state with any gas tax revenue."

Poor old DonDiego has no doubt that the State of Illinois needs the money.  The State is consistently ranked the least fiscally stable State in academic studies.  e.g. Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition .

But it looks like things are gettin' more serious, . . . where the electric vehicle tire hits the road.

Reality is a very sad thing for Liberals after spending their entire lives that others subsidies them.

Everything in DonDiego’s first paragraph is true.     Illinois’ new taxes does not make it less true.  

Last time I Checked Electric cars use the same roads that gasoline cars do.   So why should they not pay for their use like regular cars?   Unless you believe in Boilerman’s favorite phrase, “free shit”.     I won’t defend raising the gasoline tax....or Illinois tax structure in general.     It’s is out of control.

however, you should stay tuned to this policy At the national level.   The federal highway funding is largely comprised from the national gasoline tax...and as cars continue to get better mpg from hybrids, electric, or just better engineered combustion engines you will see this revenue decline.    And since Republicans don5 believe in funding the federal government one has to wonder where that revenue will come from.

Your native state of Indiana where both houses and the governor's mansion are occuipied by the Ayn Rand club charge an annual fee of $150 for electric vehicles for the same reasons I outlined in my last post.   So maybe its not such an "I gotcha" as you believe.    

Indiana annual registration fees

It is a very sad thing that conservatives seem to lack the mental capacity to realize they are hypocrites. Brokeahontas is planning to pay farmers 15 billion dollars for a product nobody wants and then give the product away as "free shit."

Re: PJStroh's post of  2:49pm, . . . . 

Everythng in poor old DonDiego's initial post is also true.

And DonDiego understands that the electric-automobile owner should contribute to maintenance of the State of Illinois's roads.

DonDiego is just amused that the environmentally-conscious owner of an electric vehicle just got slapped-up-side-the-head with an unexpected  $1000/year tax.  [DonDiego is easily amused when the Government arbitrarily surprises some poor taxpayer with unpleasantness, . . . so long as it is not himself.]

DonDiego finds statements such as: "Republicans don't believe in funding the Federal Government, . . ." inaccurate and unecessarily derisive.  [This happens a lot online.] 

For the record poor old DonDiego would like to see all appropriate Federal Government activities appropriately funded, . . . preferably without even resorting to any borrowing at all.

He recognizes this would require the Federal Government to downsize;  DonDiego opines a rational reconsideration of what the Federal Government should be doing and especially should not be doing is necessary.  Maybe the study should begin with recognizing the need for the Executive Departments specified in the original Constitution - State, Treasury, and War - and see what else can be eliminated/reduced/returned to the States' jurisdictions.

DonDiego does not expect this to happen.

The title of this thread makes me laugh. I keep thinking how the title would be interpreted on one of those conservative message boards.

Re: Mark's post of 8:40pm, 12 May

DonDiego believes he learned the meaning of two new words from this most informative post.  Or at least he sorta learned something about something; . . . he's still not exactly sure.  In any case, he's most unlikely to actually ever use those words, formally or informally.

Another waste of one's time viewing Mark's postings....