[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

California is now piling on higher fees to register an EV. They have to get the tax money you aren't spending at the gas pumps some how.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/california-adds-electric-vehicle-fees-up-to-175

I predict others will follow and then the fees will start going up each year.

I believe EVs were able to avoid some registration fees early on and that was compensated for. The $25-175 Transportation Impact Fee (TIF) applies to all cars (at least gas and electric hybrids) to fund road repairs. Don't quote me, but I think CA raided the road repair fund for other purposes and had to enact the TIF to replenish the road repair funds as our roads were getting out of hand (and still are bad). The TIF isn't just for EVs.

There's nothing of consequence here. EVs still get up to $7,500 from the Federal Gov't in subsidies, CA can rebate quite a lot as well, depending on income and if you take the HOV stickers. PG&E will rebate you $800 for as many EVs and plug-in hybrids as you can buy or lease. EVs are still heavily subsidized, although Tesla has been losing the Federal tax credits due to hitting volume limits. The "free lunch ending soon" is far from reality.

The subsidies have done what they were intended to do- stimulate EVs and plug-ins. EVs can be pretty nice cars to drive, as well as surprisingly fast. The silent torque is pretty intoxicating, just as a good exhaust note is. They're not as engaging, but there's some much room to grow.