Republicans raising taxes? Yup.

Started by Wolfstar, 02/06/2019 02:51PM
Posted 02/06/2019 02:51PM Opening Post
https://electrek.co/2019/02/06/republican-senator-bill-kill-electric-vehicle-tax-credit/amp/

As the driver of an electric vehicle, I feel this is at the very least, discriminatory. Beyond that, it's a clear gimme to the oil and gas industry given the subsidies they receive. Worse still, the $7,500 tax credit is unavailable to all electric car purchasers (myself included), given the phase out, yet they want to tax me yearly for my vehicle. I already pay taxes and fees on the electricity I use to drive my car. Lastly, how can they reconcile this with internal combustion engine cars (like my second vehicle, a Prius) that get nearly double the fleet average in fuel economy?

It is what it is...
Posted 02/07/2019 07:08PM | Edited 02/07/2019 07:08PM #1
Originally Posted by Tony Aguire
https://electrek.co/2019/02/06/republican-senator-bill-kill-electric-vehicle-tax-credit/amp/

As the driver of an electric vehicle, I feel this is at the very least, discriminatory. Beyond that, it's a clear gimme to the oil and gas industry given the subsidies they receive. Worse still, the $7,500 tax credit is unavailable to all electric car purchasers (myself included), given the phase out, yet they want to tax me yearly for my vehicle. I already pay taxes and fees on the electricity I use to drive my car. Lastly, how can they reconcile this with internal combustion engine cars (like my second vehicle, a Prius) that get nearly double the fleet average in fuel economy?
Oil and gas subsidies? Letting people that extract oil and gas deduct some of their expenses?
Liberals want me to pay more for my gas. I don't want to pay more for my gas. People also don't want to pay more to heat their homes. Liberals, you are not helping us.
Posted 02/07/2019 07:43PM #2
Originally Posted by Mel Maki

Oil and gas subsidies? Letting people that extract oil and gas deduct some of their expenses?
Liberals want me to pay more for my gas. I don't want to pay more for my gas. People also don't want to pay more to heat their homes. Liberals, you are not helping us.
You're joking, right?

It is what it is...
Posted 02/07/2019 07:56PM #3
Originally Posted by Tony Aguire

You're joking, right?
Tell me where I am wrong.
Posted 02/07/2019 10:37PM | Edited 02/07/2019 10:39PM #4
Electric vehicles currently do not pay any motor fuel taxes. Depending on where exactly you purchase your gas, there is approx. a 25% tax on the fuel that goes directly to state and fed road use funds. This is what helps maintain and build our roads.

The tax credit was a stimulus to help encourage the proliferation of electric vehicles.

By driving your electric vehicle on the roads without paying the fuel tax, you are being unfair to the rest of us that pay the tax.

The the subsidy is also unfair to those of us that an electric car is not practical.

And finally, where do you think the electricity that powers your car come from? Yes a percentage is  solar or wind but the majority is still fossil fuel. The actual total energy efficiency of your electric car when the power generation and transmission losses are included is not much better than the efficiency of the present day ICE powered cars.

You do not have much moral high ground to stand on and to complain about the removing of the subsidy because electric cars are becoming accepted seems rather disingenuous.
Posted 02/08/2019 04:10PM #5
Originally Posted by Tony Aguire

You're joking, right?
Oil and gas is subsidised by cheap land leases and taxpayers money being used to keep up a military presence in conflict areas as well. This is often not factored in. Our economy revolves around the oil and gas industry. 

It is what it is...
Posted 02/08/2019 04:10PM | Edited 02/08/2019 04:33PM #6
Originally Posted by Tony Aguire

You're joking, right?
Oil and gas is subsidised by cheap land leases and taxpayers money being used to keep up a military presence in conflict areas as well. This is often not factored in. Our economy revolves around the oil and gas industry. 

Besides, it's not my fault as an adopter of new technology that the government system of taxation is flawed. It's like taxing me more for my vegetables because I'm a vegetarian. I choose to limit my participation in the gasoline industry, I should not be penalized for it.

It is what it is...
Posted 02/08/2019 04:29PM #7
The argument that electric vehicles polute as well since the energy used to power them (sometimes) comes from dirty sources is overly simplistic. Even if the vehicle is being charged from a grid that derives its power from coal, the electric vehicles going to be far less polluting then a gas vehicle.
Many people, myself included very soon, charge thier vehicles via rooftop solar, it does not get any cleaner than that.
That being said, internal combustion engines are terribly inefficient at motivating mass compared to electric vehicles. Energy lost through heat and friction in an internal combustion engine limit thermal efficiency to around 20%, depending on the vehicle. Couple that with the fact that all electric vehicles utilize some form of regenerative braking that re captures momentum to recharge the battery that an internal combustion engine vehicle will scrub off and waste through the brakes as heat and friction.
Another factor that is rarely mentioned is the fact that electric vehicles have next to zero maintenance needs. Tires and a cabin air filter, that is all. Most electric vehicles are capable of getting a hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand miles on a set of brake pads, thanks to regenerative braking. 
No oil changes, transmission fluid changes, fan belts, timing belts, coolant changes, air filters, spark plugs, fuel filters, O2 sensors... The list is long of the things that don't end up in a landfill from an electric vehicle that do end up in a landfill from a gas powered vehicle. 
Electric vehicles, compared model by model in each segment, are faster, more comfortable, and safer than their gasoline counterparts. Electric cars, as an added bonus, won't leak fluids on the road as they age, reducing infrastructure damage.



But my question is, why would Republicans want to tax me for having this thing? I thought Republicans were against forms of taxation suckhas this? 

It is what it is...