Electric cars face ‘punitive’ fees, new restrictions in many states

TokenBoomer@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 276 points –
Electric cars face 'punitive' fees, new restrictions in many states
politico.com

Politico

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I don't know how anyone can genuinely believe that Republicans are for small government and say the competition is good when they're using government to stifle competition.

If you know nothing you'll believe anything.

Follow that with "Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”... and you start to get a feel for the playbook the GOP is using

It's truly amazing how stupid they can be though. It probably exceeded all of our expectations.

These backward-ass clowns are going to be the bane of this world.

I would have gone with backward ass-clowns, but both are good.

These backward-ass clowns are going to be the bane of this world.

Ah you think downvotes are your ally? You merely adopted the downvotes. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the upvotes until I was already a boomer, by then it was nothing to me but turmoil!

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"This law was bought for you by Big Oil and the Koch Brothers"

“We’re moving so fast to electric vehicles, we’re just making the problems worse,” said state Rep. Jim Gooch (R), the longtime chair of Kentucky’s House energy committee. Those problems are multiplying, he added, as public officials look to electrify government fleets — especially transit systems and school districts.

“I certainly don’t want to put my kids on a school bus that’s electric. I just don’t want to do it,” Gooch said. “And I’ll fight in any way I can to make sure that that’s not something Kentucky’s doing.”

What? Why would you not want your kids going on a bus that has zero exhaust? School busses that use diesel straight smell like crap and it's absolutely hot af in the south. After reading this quote I was like, this world is so fucked.

In the city where I live, almost all public transport buses are electric. Honestly for a bus it's so much better than diesel, they're quiet, don't vibrate and ride much smoother

They can also leverage regen due to constant stopping, don't get high drag penalty due to low speeds, etc. seems like good application for EV. Makes no sense as you said.

There's a guy who is definitely has a hoard of incandesant light bulbs in his garage.

To add to that, does anyone here remember those bus fire drills that you had to do once a year?

I remember having to walk a quarter mile away from the propane buses in case they blew. Much more boomy than the diesel or gasoline buses which would only burn you to death!

I'll tell you why; because oil lobbyists paid him to be against EVs and he has no actual reason to be against EVs.

He's a conservative. He wants to conserve his oil lobbyists payout.

Fuck this shit, but also did anyone else do a double take when they read this?

“It’s a barrier to adoption,” said Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, a trade group.

I had to look him up.

Oh no sir, I must say you're wrong. I'm Gal Bore, absolutely no relation whatsoever to the very handsome former vice president.

Supporters say it ensures every driver pays their fair share. But the fee is nearly double what an average driver would pay in taxes at the pump, according to consumer advocates.

Sounds like the foundation for legal challenges from EV manufacturers.

Can we just invest in public transit while taxing the fuck out of personal vehicles as well as cease subsiding oil, ffs?

That wouldn't work in the vast majority of the US, which is very spread out.

It would certainly work for the places where the vast majority of people live, ie. Metros

Great, but punishing everyone who doesn't live in a metro by taxing personal vehicles out of existence would be assinine.

As far as I read it, they are arguing to reduce fossil fuel vehicles, not vehicles entirely.

Original commenter here:

We need the vast majority of personal vehicles to be phased out, please.

Obviously, electric vehicles are a stop-gap, but they're also part of the problem.

Land doesn't ride in cars, people do.

Public transit isn't feasible is many rural areas. I know you don't like it, but that's reality. Sending a bus 20 miles down a road in the hopes that one of 4 people on it want to ride on the bus just doesn't make sense.

Sending a bus 20 miles down a road in the hopes that one of 4 people on it want to ride on the bus just doesn’t make sense.

Super true. I am disappointed bus systems have not started an on-demand system. Uber/Lyft showed what an app could do for transportation. Add physical call buttons at stops, or something, for those without mobile phones.

I would ride the bus more if it went where I need to go.

So because it doesn't currently exist, it can't ever?

What kind of public transit that exists in reality can cover that situation? The answer is none. We can wish and hope for all kinds of things, but for the moment, reality exists.

Because you have no vision, it can't happen.

Got it.

It sounds like you also have no vision, since you can't come up with any solution to that situation.

Okay. How about:

• High speed rail between major metros.
• Trams / light rail from major metros to nearby suburbia / rural towns.
• Suburbia / rural towns also implement those same trams / light rail.

•• Walkable cities / towns, with emphasis on bus / bike / light rail transit, slowing traffic.
•• High density living with mixed zoning to minimize sprawl.
•• Use of large tracts of land as parks and other third spaces.

I'm sure there's more, but that's off the top of my head.

Edit: oh, and instead of following up with "tHis WoN't wORk", please offer solutions. That generally goes over better than just complaining.

You are the one complaining and not offering solutions. Your proposed solutions above don't solve the rural issue (unless your solution is forced relocation of everyone to cities, which is never going to happen) which has to be solved before you can make cars so expensive that only the rich can afford them. I also don't know why you would want to reserve cars for the ultra wealthy, hardly feels like being ultra wealthy needs more perks.

I see you stopped at the first sentence and decided to make your comment. Rural townships (as well as metros and any other city state) need to incorporate buses and light rail to improve their towns. And start to re-plan around transit, bikes, and walkability.

As for only the ultra wealthy owning cars, I don't even want them to own cars. Ideally, I would hope cars are so regulated and so heavily taxed, that the only way for anyone to drive them in the future is on a closed track, like how race cars are now.

Humans are terrible drivers. Cars are bad for everyone. And decades of propaganda from car companies have made it where we have an insane culture thinking that somehow cars are the ultimate independence, when it's actually a self-inflicted trapping.

We need to be free of cars.

I didn't stop at the first line. None of your suggestions encompasses truly rural areas, which is a large amount of the land area of the US. Take a trip out of your metro area some time.

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How about fuck off and spend your own money on shitty transit instead of wasting taxpayer money on it while restricting freedom?

Freedom to get stuck in traffic >>>>

Freedom to pay more in gas than I would for a transit pass.

Freedom to be forced to get a licensed by the government just to move around

So fucking end the licensing. It isn't rocket science

Freedom to be run over by someone operating a three-ton piece of equipment without proper training and certification

Lmao it's barely harder than walking

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I live in one of these states that charges $100 for hybrids annually. Annoying as hell but I save so much on gas that it's worth it. I get the argument that gas taxes pay for road maintenance, but this whole thing isn't going to be sustainable in the long run.

The taxes should probably be based on some combination of usage and gross vehicle weight. People driving more with heavy vehicles ought to pay a larger share of road maintenance. A gas tax somewhat handles this since people with larger vehicles who drive more will use more gas.

But the gas taxes don't even cover all of the money spent on maintaining/upgrading the roads. Roads are very expensive especially when you have these large highway interchange projects. We should really be trying to get people away from driving cars and onto transit, biking, walking etc. as much as possible

But the gas taxes don’t even cover all of the money spent on maintaining/upgrading the roads

This is especially true where I live, because our state police are getting money from the DOT to help police small towns who can't afford their own.

I imagine they'll start caring more about road maintenance when they're so bad nobody can drive fast enough to get a speeding ticket.

But the gas taxes don’t even cover all of the money spent on maintaining/upgrading the roads

They would if we stopped wasting money on entirely unnecessary projects and worthless maintenance.

Except the argument that gas taxes pay for road maintenance is total fucking bogus when you realize how much is spent on entirely unnecessary road maintenance just because of city/state governments in bed with construction companies.

State lawmakers imposed the new fee on EVs this spring to replace gasoline taxes lost to the switch to battery-powered vehicles

This is a good thing, but poorly-implemented. Should instead be tied to mileage driven.

Some function of axle weight and mileage would probably be the best combination

Or recognize the roads and related infrastructure as a public good and use general funds to pay for it instead of leaning into a user pay model.

The real issue is the energy grid as more people move to electric cars. California already has rolling blackouts. What happens when millions more EVs start recharging?