Aug 1, 2022 2 min read

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The joy of driving past the gas station – every gas station – belongs for now to only about 30,000 Pennsylvanians who own electric vehicles.

But they are just the front edge of the wave. Americans bought more than 208,000 fully electric vehicles in the first quarter of this year. EV sales doubled in 2021 to 4.6% of all vehicles sold.

And the United States is a laggard. EVs accounted for 86% of all vehicle sales in Norway in 2021, for example. Globally, manufacturers sold 6.6 million EVs in 2021, 8.6% of all vehicle sales.

Every major car maker has invested billions of dollars in EVs, and governments worldwide have adopted policies that ensure the ongoing conversion to 100% EV sales by 2050.

As EV drivers hum past the gas station, they also drive past the tax man. Federal and state taxes on fossil fuels account for about 75% of all transportation funding.

Fuel tax revenue in Pennsylvania already has been flat and is certain to decline.

The Commonwealth Court recently shot down a state Department of Transportation proposal to raise revenue outside the fuel taxes, when it precluded tolls on nine big interstate highway bridges. Many lawmakers loudly protested those tolls but have not offered alternatives. The rise of EVs leaves them no choice, however, but to legislative a new system.

A commission empaneled by Gov. Tom Wolf has offered some proposals, including a mileage tax or a per-vehicle highway usage fee. PennDOT has suggested an 8.1-cent-per-mile tax, which would raise $8.9 billion a year and eliminate fuel taxes. According to the state Independent Fiscal Office, the average Pennsylvania driver now pays about $300 a year in state fuel taxes.

Another idea is a $1-per-package tax on delivered goods, paid by the purchaser. According to PennDOT, Pennsylvanians received 731 million shipped packages in 2021. It projects that the $1 tax would generate $780 million in its first year.

Major change is inevitable. The Legislature should work on a combination of mileage taxes, vehicle fees and delivered goods taxes to ensure that the state’s roads and bridges don’t decline as transportation technology advances.