Jukka Kukkonen, electrical and computer engineering adjunct faculty at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering, spoke to the Minnesota Star Tribune regarding fees for electric vehicle owners.
From the story:
Starting next year, Minnesota electric vehicle owners will have to pay at least double to register their EVs. Blame the change on their freedom from gas taxes.
A provision in the transportation bill that passed earlier this month raises the EV registration surcharge from $75 to at least $150. Drivers of plug-in-hybrids will also have to pay a minimum of $75 to register their vehicles.
The new fees, which go into effect in January, will scale up with more expensive vehicles – meaning some drivers could see their annual registration costs hit $200 or more. ...
Jukka Kukkonen, an electrical engineering instructor at the University of St. Thomas and founder of the Minnesota-based EV consulting firm Shift2Electric, said EV drivers were already paying their fair share in taxes with the $75 annual fee.
If someone driving a Toyota Prius hybrid, which gets 45 miles to the gallon, paid the gas tax, their average annual cost would be less than $100, he said.
